Babysitters Down Under
by Asher J
Summary: The BSC is going to Australia! And on their trip to the land Down Under, they meet another babysitting club.
1. Prologue: Kristy

_**BABY-SITTERS DOWN UNDER**_

A/N: The Baby-sitters Club characters belong solely to Ann Martin. The others belong to me. Also, the events in this story happen at the same time as the ones in _Jason and the Problem Child. _Just thought I'd clear that up.

**PROLOGUE: Kristy**

_**"H**__ere I stand so patiently, for your lights to shine on me-e, for your song insi-ide of me, this we bri-ing to yo-ou-u..."_

That's what woke me from a deep sleep. I opened my eyes to find myself on a plane. "What the--" I started to mumble. I had no idea where I was or how long I'd been asleep, until I looked around to see Mary Anne Spier on my left and Claudia Kishi on my right. Both of them were sound asleep. And that's when I remembered that we were on our way to Sydney, Australia. Oh, you don't know who I am, do you? Well, I'll explain.

Kristy Thomas is the name, baby-sitting's my game. Well, _our_ game, to tell you the truth. You see, I'm the president of a little something called the Baby-sitters Club. I got the idea almost two years ago from watching Mom make about a bazillion phone calls trying to find a sitter for my little brother David Michael, and I thought to myself, _Why not call just one number and reach a whole bunch of sitters?_ And like the saying goes, the rest is history.

Another reason why I thought up the club is because when I was six, my dad--and I use the term loosely--walked out on us. There was no warning, no goodbye, zip. He just left and never looked back. Because of that, my older brothers, Charlie and Sam, had to take on more responsibilities, as did I. I thought it was such a royal pain in the ass at first, but we soon got used to it.

About six years later, Mom fell in love with, and married, Watson Brewer, who just happens to be a millionaire. I didn't want anything to do with him at first, but that was until I sat for his two kids from his first marriage, seven-year-old Karen and five-year-old Andrew, who I just love. There's also Emily, my adopted sister, who just turned three. Mom and Watson adopted her from Vietnam about a year ago, and she's starting to understand English better. Nannie, Mom's mother, moved in with us to help take care of Emily. I don't know what we'd do without her.

Claudia's our vice-president, and our meetings are held in her room, mostly because she has her own phone _and_ phone number. This is so we won't tie up the Kishis' phone line for half an hour, three times a week. She lives with her parents and her super-genius sister, Janine. Her grandmother, Mimi, used to live with them until she passed away a year and a half ago.

Claud tells me she never felt like she belonged in her family for a couple of reasons: One, she doesn't look like any of them, except Mimi. Two, she's not the world's best student. As a matter of fact, she was sent back to seventh grade for a while. Thankfully, she was able to not only catch up, but also graduate from Stoneybrook Middle School with the rest of us. She also happens to be one hell of a good artist, as well as a junk food and Nancy Drew addict, both of which she has to hide around her room because her parents don't approve of those, for some reason.

Mary Anne's our secretary, my best friend and (I'm sorry) the most sensitive person alive. Whatever you do, don't ever watch _Ghost_ with her, because you'll have no choice but to turn the volume all the way up to drown out her nonstop crying. I guess one of the reasons why she's so sensitive is because her mom died when she was a baby, so her dad became Mr. Overprotective, Mr. Strict, you name it. I don't even want to go into the details of how he raised her. Let's just say he finally loosened up after re-meeting and marrying his high-school sweetheart, who is none other than Dawn Schafer's mother. What are the odds?

Dawn, our alternate officer/honorary member, was born and raised in California, which is where she is right now, along with her dad, stepmom, and brother, Jeff. Jeff was never happy living in Stoneybrook, so he moved back to California to be with his dad. Speaking of California, there's a baby-sitting club out there, too. It's called the We Love Kids Club, and it was started by Dawn's childhood friend Sunny Winslow. Compared to the BSC, they're a disorganized mess, but otherwise good sitters, unlike a certain baby-sitting "agency" that almost put us out of business.

New Yorker Stacey McGill, who was seated in the aisle across from me (and also sleeping in Sam's arms, but don't tell her I said that), is our treasurer, and being the math whiz that she is, that job is definitely for her. When she was twelve, her dad's company transferred him to Connecticut, so they moved to Stoneybrook from Manhattan, and I guess you know the rest of her story. However, just when she'd settled in, and made friends with us, the company transferred him back to New York. We all hated to see Stacey go, but it hit Claud the hardest, because Stacey was, and still is, her best friend. A few months later, Stacey's parents divorced, and Stacey decided to move back to Stoneybrook with her mom. Now that I look back on it, I'm surprised we didn't do the "Dance of Joy" from _Perfect Strangers_!

One other thing I should mention about Stacey: she has diabetes, and has to be extremely careful about what she eats. I still remember when she was hospitalized after a sweets binge, as well as her changing body, and it scared the holy hell out of us all. But other than that, she's been perfectly healthy. And when it comes to being Sam's girlfriend, if that's not a love connection, I don't know what is!

Abby Stevenson, who was seated in front of me, is our other alternate officer, and also the Gilda Radner of the bunch. She has a twin sister named Anna, and last April, they had their Bat Mitzvah, a ceremony in which a Jewish girl enters the adult community (if it's for a boy, it's called a _Bar_ Mitzvah). I'd never been to one of those before, because I'm not Jewish, but I still had a good time. Her life wasn't always a big laugh, though. You see, she and Anna lost their father to a car accident when they were nine. Thankfully, she never lost her sense of humor, and she never lets her many, many allergies get to her, either.

Behind me were our junior officers, Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey, who are also the best of friends, but that's where the similarities end. For starters, Mal is white, and Jessi is black. That didn't bother any of us BSC members one bit, but some people in Stoneybrook didn't seem to like them at first. I'm just glad they were able to warm up to them. I think we all were.

Besides having their ears pierced, another similarity between the two is that they're both the oldest in their families. Jessi has two siblings, nine-year-old Becca (short for Rebecca) and John Jr. (who's almost two), or Squirt, because he was the tiniest baby in the hospital when he was born. Mal, on the other hand, has--get this--_seven siblings!_ There's ten-year-old triplets Adam, Jordan and Byron, nine-year-olds Vanessa and Nicky (Nicky just turned nine last week), seven-year-old Margo, and six-year-old Claire. But even though Mal's the oldest, she does have to put up with having glasses and braces, both of which she hates. Luckily, she only has to wear her braces for a little while.

We also have three associate members: Logan Bruno, Shannon Kilbourne, and Jason Everett. What that means is they don't have to attend meetings, and they also take the jobs that we can't take. And as busy as we get sometimes, it's a good thing we have those three!

Logan moved to Stoneybrook from Kentucky soon after we started eighth grade. He also happens to be Mary Anne's boyfriend. Imagine, the shyest, most sensitive girl in Stoneybrook being the first BSC member to have a boyfriend! Besides being Mary Anne's boyfriend, he's also a great sitter, and he used to be the only guy member, until Jason arrived.

Shannon lives across the street from me, and is the only member who goes to Stoneybrook Day School, a private school. When we first met, I thought she was the world's most stuck-up bitch. Not only did she make fun of our old collie, Louie, but she also had the _cojones_ to accuse me of stealing her baby-sitting jobs. But Louie's funeral, not to mention Shannon giving us one of her dog Astrid's puppies (guess what David Michael named her?), helped us become friends.

Jason, who happens to be Claud's boyfriend, is the only member who wasn't born in America. He was actually born in Scotland, and came to America with his mom when he was four. His real dad was shot down over Iraq a month before Jason was born. Soon after their arrival, his mom married Steve Everett, who has a daughter of his own, Bebe. She's a real sweet kid.

One of the most unusual things about Jason is the fact that his accent never went away completely, despite the fact that he came to America at such a young age, and it used to bother him a lot. As a matter of fact, I think he sounds like a cross between Nanny Stella from _Nanny 911_ and Ewan McGregor from when he guest-starred on _ER_ during the show's third season.

Also, when Jason was ten, he got into a fight with another kid because of his accent, and that led to the other kid hitting him in the face with a two-by-four that had a little tiny nail sticking out of one end, which is how he got that scar on his right cheekbone. But even though Jason may look a little intimidating, he's really a great guy, and Karen and Andrew just adore him.

Well, back to me. It was barely daylight outside the plane, and I was the only one in coach who was actually awake. I unbuckled my seatbelt, got my carry-on bag down from the overhead bin and took out my camera. It's the kind that videotapes as well as takes pictures, and it's _sooo_ cool. I got it for Christmas from my Uncle Neal and Aunt Theo last year.

Anyway, I turned it on and started taping. "Wakey-wake-eeee," I softly sang as I aimed the camera at Mary Anne. "It's a beautiful day out there. Or it will be, once we land." Then, as I looked up Mary Anne's nose and hit the zoom button, I added, "By the way, Mary Anne, when was the last time you blew your nose? My God!"

Amazingly, Mary Anne was still fast asleep, so I turned to Claud.

"Thomas, you even think about looking up my nose with that thing and I'll stuff you into the overhead bin," she warned sleepily.

Whoa. Somebody's not in the best of moods today. "Sorry," I whispered, somewhat sincerely.

Since Claud wouldn't let me tape her, I decided to pan around the rest of the cabin to get shots of my other BSC friends. My first shot was of Stacey. She was still asleep in Sam's arms, but Sam was starting to wake up. That might not have been so bad if he hadn't chosen that particular moment to turn his head to the left.

"Go back to your homes, there's nothin' to see here," he mumbled. Apparently, he didn't want to be taped, either.

"I'll say," I agreed. On the upside, I didn't wake David Michael, because who knows what embarrassing thing he would've done! And as for how the other passengers would've felt about being woken up, I don't even wanna go there! (Can you say "lynch mob"?)

I had to go to the bathroom, and I couldn't pass up taping the others on the way. When I got up, the first thing I saw was Jessi and all eight Pikes: Jessi, Mal and Claire were right behind where I'd been sitting, Margo, Nicky and Vanessa were behind them, and the triplets were five rows behind Sam, Stacey, and David Michael. And yes, they were all snoozing. Unfortunately, Adam was snoring like a busted chainsaw, and if Jordan and Byron didn't have their headphones on, they'd be waiting for the plane to land so they could beat the living crap out of him.

On the way to the bathroom, I noticed Abby starting to wake up. "Good morning, starshine! The earth says hello!" I whispered as I focused the camera on her. She rubbed her eyes and saw me.

"Oh, hi," she yawned. "Listen, does that camera have night-vision?"

"Yeah. Why?"

That's when Abby grabbed my hands and pulled my camera just inches away from her face. "I'm...so..._scared!"_ she whispered, panting very quickly between each word. "And I--hold on, wait a sec." She then reached into her purse, took out a little tube of lotion and smeared some under her nose. "Okay, now I'm _really_ scared!" she whimpered as she aimed the camera up her nose. "And I'm sorry if I'm grossing you out, Kristy, but this is how it was done in the movie! Let's just be glad that I'm not having an allergic reaction to anything!"

"Okay, cut," I whispered as I shut the camera off and headed for the bathroom. I had the beginning of my documentary all figured out, and Abby just had to go and turn it into _The Blair Witch Baby-sitters._ Oh, well. I still had plenty of film and batteries left, and boy, would I need them!


	2. Chapter 1: Kristy

**CHAPTER 1: Kristy**

_**"C**_all me crazy, but part of me is kind of glad Dawn's not with us," Mary Anne commented as she picked up a forkful of eggs. "Can you imagine what she'd say about the food here?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "If she were here, I'd bet anything that her carry-on would have nothing but that organic crap she eats. Boy, I wonder which is worse, this or SMS' food?"

"I dunno, Kristy," Claud answered. "What really sucks is the fact that there's no jelly donuts on this flight."

"Well, at least they have bagels," Abby piped up, and I could tell her mouth was full. And speaking of bagels, I'm guessing that's what she was eating.

I was finishing my apple juice when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and leaning over our seats was Mal, with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "Before I tell you what's going on back there, I should warn you that you're gonna be in for a big surprise," she informed me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's something you don't expect to see or hear, but that's not important right now," Claud giggled. Now, under any other circumstances, I would've laughed myself silly or started saying some other _Airplane!_ bit, but the look on Mal's face clearly said that this was no laughing matter.

Anyway, when I turned around, I got one hell of a surprise, all right. The triplets each had two bagel slices in their hands and were using them to play some kind of ring-toss game, and Vanessa and Nicky were catching them on their fingers! And if that wasn't enough, one bagel actually bounced off of Vanessa's finger and landed in some guy's Cream of Wheat!

"See what I mean?" Mal said in exasperation.

"Say no more," I told her as I got out of my seat and marched up the aisle to where the game was going on. Jordan tossed another bagel and, being the athlete that I am, I caught it in mid-air. Also, I could be wrong, but I think the guy who had the bagel land in his breakfast was looking at me like I was his savior or something.

"That's enough," I said sternly. "If you guys don't sit down and behave, I'm going to tell one of the flight attendants and have them make you sit with your parents. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sergeant Kristy," the triplets answered in unison.

"Good," I answered, then turned around and sat back down. Our parents just _had_ to sit in first class and leave the rest of us in coach, didn't they? I'm just glad the plane was starting to make its descent over Australia by this point.

Sometime before we landed, two of the attendants came in and started spraying some kind of chemical in the air. It had such a strong smell that it took everything I had to keep my breakfast down. I know it was supposed to deodorize or disinfect or whatever, but come _on._

"She was a fever from which I will never recover," Sam murmured, trying to use a German accent. I groaned. Ever since _Carnival_, he's been practicing almost every accent known to man, and it drives us up the wall. Then, in his normal voice, he added, "I dunno who 'she' is, but I'll never recover from her."

Well, naturally, Stacey burst into giggles. "If loving you is a crime," she managed to say as she turned to my clown of a brother, "then let me guilty."

_"Guilty!"_ Byron sharply whispered into Adam's ear. Upon hearing this, Adam got a really dorky-looking horrified look on his face as he let loose with a long, loud gasp, then unleashed the longest, loudest, grossest, most obnoxious-sounding belch he could muster. That sent David Michael, and the rest of the Pikes, into hysterical laughter. (Well, technically, Mal was the only one who wasn't laughing. She and Jessi were looking at each other like, "Dear God, how much longer do we have to sit with these lunatics?")

"Adam, you're such a silly-billy-goo-goo!" Claire howled.

"Uh, guys?" Mary Anne interjected. "That's air sanitizer, not Obsession."

I couldn't help myself. "Obsession," I whispered loudly, which got the other Baby-sitters whispering that, especially Mal and Jessi, who just seconds ago, weren't very amused by what was going on. Now, they had tears running down their faces from laughing so hard.

Amidst our laughter and whispering "Obsession", I happened to look up and see a flight attendant standing right in front of me. She had her hands on her hips and was looking at me like I was five years old and had made a mess in the kitchen.

"If you're quite finished annoying the crap out of everybody, I'd like to let you know that we're getting ready to land," she said testily.

"Okay," I responded, as calmly and politely as I could manage. Boy, somebody shouldn't have had that second cup of coffee!

Well, the plane landed in one piece, thankfully. I heard the wheels screeching on the runway and felt the vibrations as the plane landed, and also heard Margo hurling. On the upside, she'd made it through the entire flight without getting sick, and considering how weak her stomach is, I think we were all impressed with her stamina.

"Welcome to Sydney, Australia," the voice on the loudspeaker announced as the plane was coming to a stop. "The local time is 8:39 a.m., Greenwich Mean Time, and the local forecast is 17 degrees Celcius, and party cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain. Thank you for flying United Airlines, and have a nice day."

As soon as the plane stopped, we all got up, took our carry-on bags down from the overhead bins, or out from under our seats, and started to make our way off the plane. And right in front of me, Abby leaned over to an empty seat beside her and, at the top of her lungs, shouted, "GOODBYE, JEFFREY!!!"

_Oh, shit,_ I thought in dismay. We hadn't even gotten off the plane yet, and this vacation was already going down the tubes! What had I done to deserve this?

But much to my surprise, the entire cabin burst out laughing. And I'm not completely sure, but I think I heard a few passengers laugh like Renfield. All I know is it was such a relief that no one was saying things like, "God, who let her on this flight!"

I followed the other Baby-sitters out into the terminal, where Mom, Charlie, Watson, and Mr. and Mrs. Pike were waiting. "Hey, kids!" Watson called. "Good morning!"

"Hi," Mrs. Pike smiled. "Have a nice flight?"

"Yeah, up until _someone_ ruined our ring-toss game, and I know exactly who's to blame," Vanessa said accusingly. She was obviously directing her little rhyme at me, and if I was nine years old again, I would've started pretending to play the violin. (Oh, no, it's the Vanessa Pike syndrome! Run for your lives!)

"Hi, Mal!" a voice called, only it sounded more like, "Hoi, Mel!" That voice could only belong to one person: Ben Hobart. And sure enough, when we looked up, there he was with James, Mathew, and Johnny right behind him.

"Ben!" Mal squealed as she ran to him. He swept her into his arms and spun her around as they kissed. When he set her down, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting our aunt and uncle," Ben answered. "How about you guys?"

"Well, my stepdad's company is setting up a branch of offices in Sydney," I answered as I set Johnny down, and as luck would have it, that's when Mathew wanted to be picked up. Even though he's a growing boy (hell, they all are), I could still do it.

"Well, our folks are waiting for us at the baggage claim," Ben informed us, "so we better get going."

As we headed down the corridor to pick up our bags, and chattering away the whole time, we knew that our Australian adventure was off to a _great_ start.


	3. Chapter 2: Abby

**CHAPTER 2: Abby**

_**O**__y,_ the baggage claim. If there's one part of flying that I've always dreaded facing, this is definitely it. Not only does it take so damn long for your suitcase to arrive, but you also have to pick yours out from hundreds of others that look exactly the same as yours. On the upside, though, we all had the Baby-sitters Club logo embroidered on our suitcases, so we didn't have to wait so long.

After we finally got our bags, we headed out of the airport. The first thing we noticed was how much cooler the weather was here, as opposed to Stoneybrook. Yes, it was mid-June, but in Australia, it felt more like early April. If that's not a shock to your system, I don't know what is.

"Now this I didn't expect," I commented.

"Well, it is cooler here this time of year," Ben pointed out.

"At least it's not snowing," James said. By this point, we were already at the parking lot, and since there were so many of us, we needed to have three vans: Sam, Charlie, and the Hobarts were in one, the Pikes were in another, and David Michael, Kristy's parents, and us Baby-sitters were in the third.

"So, where are we staying?" Stacey asked as she finished off a little package of crackers and peanut butter.

"Well, we're all staying at the Holiday Inn," Mr. Pike answered as he started loading his family's suitcases into the back of their van. "And the Hobarts are staying with their cousin."

"Have we ever told you about our cousin, Kelly?" Mathew asked.

"No, I don't think," Mary Anne answered.

"Well," Mathew began, "she's a year older than Ben, and she has a baby-sitting club of her own."

"Really?" Kristy asked. I could tell she was interested in hearing this. I know I was. "What are they called?"

"Baby-sitters, Inc.," James said, giving the Pikes a hand in loading their van. "And yes, she's the president, in case you're wondering."

"Cool!" Kristy exclaimed. "I can't wait to meet them!""

"Mummy, can we invite the Baby-sitters to Aunt Ann and Uncle Mike's house to meet Kelly and her friends?" Johnny asked, jumping up and down like a Mexican jumping bean.

"Sure we can, darling," Mrs. Hobart smiled.

"All _right!"_ Johnny shouted, engaging Mathew and James in a triple high-five.

"Well, let's get going," Mr. Hobart told us as he helped load the last of the suitcases. After a quick head count, not to mention Sam saying "23, 648, elevendy-bazillion" while we were counting, we got into our respective vans and were off.

"I wonder what Baby-sitters, Inc. is like?" Claud wondered.

"Well, we'll find out," Mary Anne said.

"Hopefully, they run a pretty tight ship," Kristy commented. "Furthermore, the kids they sit for like them."

"I'm sure they do," Jessi agreed. "It also wouldn't hurt if they like horses."

"Or art," Claud added.

I don't know why, but my mind flashed back to when we saw the _Carnival_ set for the first time. And just like I'd done then, I ran my hands through my hair to make it look like an Afro and whispered, "Okay, now let's get crazy. Let's take a little yellow ochre, some bright red, and put some leaves falling to the ground. And this is what I like the most about painting. You can put as many leaves in your world as you want."

Everybody in the van got a good laugh. "Oh, man, Abby, that was great!" David Michael cried. "You sounded just like Bob Ross!"

"Thanks," I grinned, ruffling his hair.

I couldn't believe it. We were actually going to meet our Australian counterparts. I think we were all hoping they were nice people, and more importantly, good baby-sitters.

It was nearly mid-afternoon when we pulled up to the Hobarts' cousin's house. Actually, it was a mansion, almost as big as the Thomas-Brewer house, or mine, for that matter. It was all white with a two-car garage, a balcony over the mahogany front door with a brass knocker on the front, a barbecue pit in the front yard, and a toolshed, a flower garden and a little garden house out back.

"Wow!" Stacey exclaimed as we all got out. "This place is gorgeous!"

"I'll say!" I agreed. "This is straight out of _Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous_!"

At that moment, the front door opened and out came a short, thin girl with shoulder-length red hair, bluish-green eyes and silver braces. She also had on a black T-shirt, light blue jeans and black leather Chuck Taylor high-tops with gleaming-white laces, as well as a black digital watch on her left wrist. When she saw us, she had the warmest smile on her face.

"G'day," she said. "I'm Kelly Hobart."

"Hi, Kelly! Hi, Kelly!" the younger Hobart boys squealed as they ran up to their cousin and threw their arms around her. Boy, they must really love her, huh?

After Kelly finished greeting her family, she turned to us and said, "So, you must be the Baby-sitters Club."

"Yup," Kristy grinned proudly. "Kristy Thomas, president."

"Welcome," Kelly said, shaking Kristy's hand. "Ben's told me quite a bit about you girls." Then, to Claud, she asked, "And you must be Claudia, right? Or is it Stacey?"

"Claudia Kishi, vice-president," Claud said, and motioning toward Stacey, she added, "Stacey McGill, treasurer. And this is her boyfriend Sam Thomas."

"Nice to meet you," Kelly answered. "And this must be Mary Anne. Or is it Dawn?"

"It's Mary Anne," she said shyly. "Mary Anne Spier, secretary. Dawn Schafer's my stepsister and an alternate officer. She's in California."

"Oh, I see," Kelly said. "And you must be Abby."

"Abby Stevedsod, alterdate officer," I told her, and as luck would have it, my allergies just had to pick that exact moment to start acting up. Some first impression this was.

"Allergies?" Kelly asked. I nodded. "Same here. Dust, pollen and cats."

"Life," I laughed.

"Well, I'm glad to see you don't let it get you down," Kelly smiled. "And you gotta be Jessi, right?"

"Jessi Ramsey, junior officer," she answered, and Kelly happened to notice the Stamford Ballet School T-shirt that Jessi was wearing.

"Are you a dancer?" Kelly inquired. Jessi nodded proudly. "I have a friend who takes ballet at the High School for Performing Arts in New York."

"Awesome!" Jessi exclaimed. "I bet your friend loves it there, huh?"

"She sure does," Kelly agreed. "And that would make you Mallory, right?"

"Mallory Pike, junior officer," Mal answered, putting her left arm around Ben.

"Ben's _definitely_ told me about you," Kelly grinned. "So, how's it feel being his sheila?"

"Wonderful," Mal sighed. The other Pikes and Hobarts rolled their eyes and made the "I think I'm gonna be sick" face that all kids know how to make.

"Well," Kelly said, changing the subject, "what do you say I show you girls our headquarters? It's that old garden house out back."

"Don't the bugs and spiders ever bother you?" David Michael asked. Kristy, of course, gave her little brother one of her looks.

"No," Kelly laughed. "Me parents and I cleaned it out and fixed it up so we could have a place to hold our meetings, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5:30 to 6:00."

"That's when _we_ have _our_ meetings!" Kristy exclaimed.

"Get out of here!" she and Kelly shouted at the same time.

"Well, let's show you our headquarters," Kelly told the rest of us. "Follow me."

As we followed Kelly to the garden house, we felt like those kids from _The Sound of Music_. In fact, one of us (no, not me) started everybody singing "Do Re Mi". I'm just glad Kelly didn't say "Walk this way" and we all didn't end up walking like hunchbacks!


	4. Chapter 3: Claudia

**CHAPTER 3: Claudia**

_**"N**_ow you guys play nice while we're in there, okay?" Mal said to her siblings and the Hobart boys.

"Okay, Mal," Claire agreed as a game of Pike-tag got underway. By the way, I should tell you that Pike-tag is a little different from regular tag. You see, instead of tapping someone on the shoulder, you give the person you're chasing that God-awful Bizzer sign (which I have no patience for), and they have to freeze right where they are. Also, if you happen to be standing on one foot when you're tagged, well, good luck keeping your balance!

"Well, here we are!" Kelly announced. The first thing we noticed was that the garden house was painted bright purple with white trim and a gray door with "BABY-SITTERS, INC." stenciled on the front in black. In my opinion, you couldn't find a better color-scheme than that.

When Kelly opened the door, the inside really blew us away. Right in the middle was a long brown card table with eight folding chairs around it: one a each end and three on each side. The speaker-phone and the club notebook were right in the center of the table. On the left wall was a big dry-erase board that had the month's calendar on it, and each day had scheduled sitting jobs and appointments, just like our record book. And on the far wall was a big white clock with a picture of a koala on it. It looked like a conference room, as opposed to my room, which is always a mess. In fact, if you took one look at my room, you'd think that a tornado blew through it! But other than that, I had to admit that Kelly knew how to take care of business.

"Wow, nice place you've got here!" I commented. "Especially the dry-erase board! Maybe we should get that."

"Thanks, Claud," Kelly smiled. "You know, you guys should've seen us trying to get that damn thing in the door! I'm surprised we didn't have to take the door off its hinges!"

"Do you have Kid-Kits?" Mary Anne asked.

"Yup," Kelly answered. "Only, we call ours 'Fun-Boxes'. That reminds me, I've got mine right here." As she spoke, she reached under her chair and took out a long, thin cardboard box with "FUN-BOX" written all over it in every color Magic Marker possible. We were really impressed to see it.

"I bet the kids love those, huh?" Abby asked.

"Do they!" Kelly agreed.

"Do you wear a visor, Kelly?" Kristy asked. "I mean, you _are _the president."

"Better than that," Kelly answered, pointing to the upper left corner of the doorway. Hanging on the wall was a black leather baseball cap with a picture of a soccer ball on it.

"Wow!" Kristy marvelled. "That's something you don't see every day!"

"Thanks," Kelly said, putting her cap on. "Well, it's almost time for the meeting." It was a little after 5:00, so we'd soon get to meet the rest of Baby-sitters, Inc.

Sure enough, the door opened, and in came two other girls. One was tall and thin with black hair, brown eyes, and had on a red top with elbow-length sleeves, khakis, and white sneakers. The other was short and somewhat stockier with spiky brown hair streaked with white, blue eyes, two earrings in each ear, and also had on an AC/DC T-shirt, a blue denim miniskirt, black fishnet tights, and black Doc Martens, as well as a silver ring in her left nostril.

"Baby-sitters Club, these are our junior officers, Joan Cooper and Lori Evans," Kelly told us.

"Mallory Pike," Mal said to them, "and this is Jessi Ramsey."

"Hi," the black-haired girl said. "I'm Lori, and this is Joan."

"I was just getting ready to ask who was who," Jessi said. "Thanks for clearing that up."

"No problem," Joan smiled.

At that moment, another girl came in. She had strawberry-blond hair that was cut in the same style as Mary Anne's, green eyes, gold-rimmed glasses, and had on a camouflage T-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. She also had a calculator watch on her right wrist, so I assumed she was the treasurer.

"Chelsea Marion, treasurer," she said to anyone who was listening.

Upon hearing this, Stacey came up to her and said, "Stacey McGill, same here." After they shook hands, they started commenting on each other's clothes.

The next ones to arrive were the alternate officers, I assumed, because they went directly to Abby. One had black hair, brown eyes, and _really _dark skin, like an Aborigine, and the other had light brown hair, like the Pikes, and hazel eyes. They were both dressed in tie-dye T-shirts, faded jeans, and moccasins, like Dawn.

"Zoe Wright," the dark-skinned girl said. "And this is Beth Brown."

"Hi," Beth said, as both girls shook hands with Abby.

"Abby Stevenson," Abby answered.

The last to arrive were the vice-president and secretary. The vice-president had dark brown hair and eyes and had on a Sydney Opera House T-shirt, a tan knee-length skirt, white socks, and brown penny loafers. The secretary had golden-blond hair, hazel eyes, and three earrings, two in her left ear and one in her right. She also had on a white polo shirt that was two sizes too big, dark blue jeans, and hot pink Chuck Taylor high-tops.

"G'day," she (the secretary) said to Mary Anne. "I'm Sara Michaels, and this is Erin Ross."

"Hi," Mary Anne smiled. "You must be the secretary. I'm Mary Anne Spier, and this is our vice-president, Claudia Kishi."

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking hands with both. Just then, I happened to look to the right and see a little blond girl peeking shyly from behind Sara. Her dark blue eyes met mine, and looked straight at me. It made me wonder if she'd ever seen an Asian person before.

"Hi," I said softly as I knelt down to her level. "My name's Claudia. What's yours?"

She didn't say a word. She just continued staring at me. "It's all right," Sara said to her. Then, to me, she said, "This is Toni, me sister. She's seven."

"Shy, huh?" Mary Anne guessed.

"Yeah," Sara answered. "She may take a little while to warm up to you."

I saw Mary Anne nod sympathetically. She had shyness problems herself, although, these days, she's starting to come out of her shell. Hopefully, Toni would, too.

Well, 5:30 finally rolled around. All the members of Baby-sitters, Inc. seated themselves around the table as we stood off to the side, and Kelly called the meeting in session.


	5. Chapter 4: Mary Anne

**CHAPTER 4: Mary Anne**

_**"B**_aby-sitters, Inc.," Zoe answered as she pressed the speaker-phone button. I wasn't paying that much attention to the meeting, mostly because I was looking out the window and keeping an eye on the kids. I noticed that Toni was sitting under a tree and playing with a blade of grass, just totally oblivious to what was going on. And I'll tell you, I couldn't help but feel sorry for that little girl.

"Kristy? I'm going outside for a minute or two. Is that all right?" I asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Kristy said. I got up from the bench I was sitting on and headed outside. The kids had had their fill of Pike-tag and were now lying around on their backs and watching the clouds. That reminded me of the time Grandma Baker and I did that when I last visited her.

"That one looks like a horse," I heard David Michael say.

"Yeah, it does!" James agreed. "And there's one that looks like a kangaroo!"

"Where?" Byron asked.

"That one over there, see?"

"I dunno," Nicky said, squinting. "I think it looks more like a rocket ship."

"I see a silly-billy-goo-goo!" Claire squealed, pointing directly above her.

Margo took a closer look to where Claire was pointing. "Yup, that's you, all right," she said, which sent the others, including Claire, into a laughing fit. I got a good laugh myself, but I was more interested in Toni.

"Hi," I said as I sat down beside her. "I'm Mary Anne. You must be Toni."

Nothing. And I thought _I_ was shy!

"Those other kids look like they're having fun, don't they?" Toni nodded. "Do you want to go see what they're doing?" She shook her head, avoiding my gaze the whole time

Well, that didn't work. I decided to tell her a little bit about myself. Maybe that would help her open up.

"So, you're sister's a baby-sitter, huh?" I said. "I've done a lot of baby-sitting myself. Oh, I remember one time when Kristy and I sat for the Pike kids--those kids over there--and we ended up playing Telephone all evening because Kristy and I weren't speaking to each other and, well, you had to have been there. And I still remember how we almost ruined Jamie Newton's fourth birthday party about two weeks later. That's something I _never_ want to go through again! I bet you've never had an experience like that, huh?"

Toni shook her head. Not quite the response I'd expected, but better than nothing.

"So, uh...what grade will you be in this year?"

"First," she said softly, still not looking at me.

"First, huh? I'm starting high school this year."

And you know what? As soon as I told Toni that, for the first time all day, she looked up at me, and I could see quite clearly that she was beautiful. In fact, she looked a little like Dawn did when she was seven, from what I remember from the second-grade picture she'd showed me. The only difference was, both her hair and her eyes were two full shades darker than Dawn's. "Are you scared?" she asked me.

"A little," I admitted. Well, sort of. Okay, I was petrified. "I mean, high school is totally different from middle school, and especially elementary school. But on the upside, nobody has to go through it alone."

I'm not too sure, but I think I saw a hint of a smile touch Toni's face. Something was apparently on her mind. "What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"What's your family like?"

Whoa. I wasn't prepared for _that_ question. Also, how would I answer her? Truthfully, I suppose.

"Well," I began, clearing my throat, "first of all, I have a sister named Dawn. Well, actually, she's my stepsister. See, when we were thirteen, my dad and her mom got married. They dated in high school, but broke up soon afterwards, and each married someone else. Then Dawn's parents divorced when she was twelve, and her mom brought Dawn and her brother, Jeff, to Connecticut, and I suppose you know the rest of the story. Why do you ask, Toni?"

Toni's face fell, and that made me feel a little apprehensive. Had I asked the wrong question here? What happened?

"Sara and I are orphans," she said sadly as she looked away. "Mummy and Daddy were killed in a car crash when I was three. We'd been living with me granddad for a while, but now he's too old and sick to take care of us, so now we live in an orphanage, and he lives in some kind of home for old people. It's been this way ever since."

I felt terrible when she told me this, mostly because my mother died before I was a year old. The only upside was the fact that my mother's parents were willing to take care of me for a while. "I'm so sorry, Toni," I whispered, putting my hand on her back, which made her scoot closer to me and lay her head on my shoulder. "What's the orphanage like?" Hopefully, it was nothing like _Annie_ or _Oliver Twist._

"Oh, it's not too bad, I suppose," Toni answered, cheering up a tad. "The people take really good care of us, the food's pretty good and there's always something to do. I just wish I had a room of me own, instead of having to sleep with 20 other girls, you know?"

I nodded. Listening to that made me think of that boarding school in Masachusetts that Mal goes to, and she hates it there. One of the things she told us about was her roommate, Alexis, and how much of a little hellion she was. It soon got to the point where Mal had to ask for...no, _demand,_ a new roommate, which, thankfully, she got.

"Kickball!" I heard Johnny's voice shout. That's when Toni's face lit up like the White House Christmas tree, and she was on her feet in a second and running toward the other kids before I could ask her if she wanted to join in. I guess kickball's her favorite game.

"Hey, Dave, do that one bit from _Carnival_!" Jordan was saying.

_No, he wouldn't. Would he?_ I thought to myself as I got up. Sure enough, the next thing I heard was: "'Aaay, Rosalie! I know who she is!" The rest of the kids got a good laugh, but Toni was laughing the hardest. David Michael sure knows how to break the ice, doesn't he?

I then noticed the BSC and Baby-sitters, Inc. members coming out of the headquarters. When they saw what was going on, they took it upon themselves to play cheerleader. Evidently, they liked what they saw. And the cheers they made up, well, talk about creative! On the upside, none of them were doing the bit in the "Natural Childbirth" story from _Bill Cosby, Himself_!(You know, _"Push 'em out, shove 'em out, way out!"_)

I definitely liked what I saw. I was especially happy that Toni was interacting with the other kids, and also hoping that she'd find true happiness someday.


	6. Chapter 5: Mallory

**CHAPTER 5: Mallory**

_**A**_fter the kickball game wound down--eventually, of course--we headed for the hotel. On the way, part of me was wishing I was in the van with the other BSC members because my siblings just would not shut up. I'm glad they had fun playing with the Hobarts, and that they got to meet our Australian counterparts, but God, give it a rest.

"The Hobarts' cousin sure is a nice girl, isn't she?" I asked. I figured if I couldn't get them to be quiet, I might as well join the conversation.

"Oh, definitely!" Adam agreed. "And what about that one girl who was sitting off by herself until we started playing kickball?"

"Yeah, she looked pretty sad to me until then," Vanessa said. "I guess Mary Anne knew how to reach her, huh?"

"I'll say," I commented.

"Oh, and did you see how she was looking at Dave?" Nicky pointed out. (By the way, my siblings--particularly, my brothers--call David Michael "Dave".) "She really had her eye on him."

_"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore,"_ Byron sang in the most off-key semi-operatic voice I'd ever heard. It was very painful to listen to, mostly because it was coming from Byron, who was usually the quiet triplet, and also can't sing to save his life. Plus, I'm not too sure, but I think I heard Nicky screaming like Abe Vigoda in the horse's head scene from _The Godfather_, which we saw on this VH-1 show called _I Love the '70s_, as well as Adam whispering under his breath, "Bea Arthur's head? Marlon Brando's head? Mickey Rooney's head? Naked Mickey Rooney?" while Nicky was screaming. (In case you're wondering, some of the commentators on that show were wondering what would be scarier than finding a horse's head in your bed.)

"That was almost like how Pavarotti would sound if he were hung over," Jordan said, trying his hardest to sound like Simon Cowell. The rest of my siblings burst into laughter when they heard that. It's a wonder my ears didn't start bleeding, now that I think about it.

It was already nighttime when we arrived at the hotel. After we got our room keys, we headed for the elevators and rode up to the third floor. Since there were so many of us, here's how rooms were arranged: Kristy, Claud, Stacey, and Mary Anne; Charlie, Sam, and David Michael; Mom, Dad, Claire, and Margo; Mr. and Mrs. Brewer; my brothers, since they all share a room at home; and Jessi, Abby, Vanessa, and me. (Good thing I've got my mp3 player with me in case Vanessa starts rhyming in her sleep!)

When we got off the elevators, I got a good look at how long the hallway was. It reminded me of this one sleepover Kristy had where a certain BSC member, who shall remain nameless, had the brilliant idea to rent _The Shining._ Well, not only was it absolute horse shit compared to the novel (and I'm not that much of a Stephen King person, either!), but I had trouble sleeping for a week. And don't even get me started on comparing the blood-from-the-elevator scene to the shower scene from _Psycho_!

The four of us got to our room, which happened to be right beside the fire exit, and started unpacking. "Hey, did I ever tell you guys about my trip to Disney World?" I asked as I unzipped my suitcase and got out my journal, my nightshirt and my outfit for tomorrow.

"Isn't that when Karen got her manicure and got everyone to sing 'Happy Birthday' to her at breakfast?" Jessi asked.

"Yup," I answered. "And I'll never forget the look on her dad's face when she pulled that little stunt!"

"I bet he wasn't too happy, huh?" Abby asked.

"I'll say he wasn't," I agreed.

"And let's not forget the so-called 'treasure map'," Vanessa added. "If I ever hear those two words again, I'll just snap."

"Well, let's hope we don't have to put up with _that_ again," I said, closing my suitcase and sliding it under the bed I'd be sharing with Vanessa. "If anyone needs in the bathroom, go now, because I was gonna take my shower."

Right on cue, Vanessa made a beeline for the bathroom. "Didn't we tell you not to drink that second glass of Kool-Aid before we left the Hobarts'?" Abby asked, shaking her head. Thankfully, Vanessa was in there for only a couple of minutes.

"All yours," she said as she came out. I went in and closed the door behind me.

The bathroom wasn't the luxurious kind, like what you'd see at the Plaza Hotel, but it was still pretty nice. The sink, tub, and toilet were white, the walls were pink, and the ceiling and floor were pale yellow. There was also a light blue plastic shower curtain with kangaroos, boomerangs, and koalas all over it. After I finished brushing my teeth, I undressed and got into the shower. Instead of being either scalding hot, lukewarm, or ice-cold, like at my house (the plumbing there is _so_ crappy), the water was just perfect. However, when I finished, there was so much steam, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. At least I didn't have to worry about someone barging in with a rolled-up newspaper and screaming "HERE'S YOUR PAPER! HERE'S YOUR PAPER! YOU HAPPY NOW?!!" at the top of their lungs while pretending to stab me with it. Adam did that once about a year ago, and thank God I'd already had my towel around me because if I hadn't, I would've wrung his neck! When Mom and Dad found out, they took away his _High Anxiety_ video for two weeks.

After I dried off, got dressed and blow-dried my hair, I gathered up my dirty clothes, left the bathroom and put them on the floor in the closet.

"'Night, you guys," I said as I settled down next to Vanessa, who was already asleep.

"'Night, Mal," Jessi yawned, tuning the radio to a classical music station. That's what she likes to listen to when she's trying to fall asleep. I still remember when Jason suggested that she try listening to Pink Floyd's _Dark Side of the Moon_ album. And let me tell you, Jessi just looked at him like he was from outer space.

I was just about to nod off when I heard something from the bathroom, and I'll give you three guesses as to who it was.

"'Shampoo is better! I go on first and clean the hair!'" Abby was shouting. "'Conditioner's better! I make the hair all siiilky and smooooth!'...Stop lookin' at me, sw--well, you're not a swan, but still, stop lookin' at me!"

It took everything I had not to start laughing, because I guarantee you I would've woken everybody else in the room. Oh, well. It was better than listening to one of my brothers play "Who Let the Dogs Out?" on his armpit.

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you wake up and have no idea where you are or how you got there? Well, that's the way it was the next morning when I opened my eyes and saw my surroundings. I don't know why, but my first thought was that I was at boarding school.

_If the first person I see is Alexis, I swear to God I'm gonna lose my mind,_ I thought in dread. I wiped the sleep from my eyes, put on my glasses and sat up, just preparing myself for the worst.

The bathroom door opened just then, and out came Vanessa. "I wonder if we're sightseeing today," she grinned. "If we are, I hope we don't lose our way."

"Morning, Vanessa," I yawned as I gathered up today's outfit and headed to the bathroom. After we were all dressed and ready, we met the others in the lobby.

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm starved," Charlie said. "Wonder what the food is like here?"

"Hopefully, it's a helluva lot more edible than SMS' food," Kristy commented.

"Or the hospital," Claud added, before Kristy could make one of her legendary gross school lunch comments. "Just thinking about that makes my leg hurt almost as much as my stomach!"

"Yeah, I hear you," Stacey agreed. "Of course, it beat the plane's food by a mile."

"Well, at least none of us ordered the fish," Abby laughed. By this point, we'd already sat down and placed our orders.

While we were waiting for our food, I noticed David Michael looking off to the right, and I swear, if his eyes got any bigger, they would've popped right out of his head.

"David Michael?" I asked. "Are you all right?"

"Look over there," he said, gesturing toward the buffet.

I looked. Standing in front of the quiche was a slightly frumpy, balding guy with a moustache and big wire-rimmed glasses. "Yeah, so what?" I inquired. That's what David Michael wanted to show me?

"No, that's that guy!" he whispered excitedly. "You know, that guy that talks really, really fast! He did all those Micro-Machines commercials!"

"I think those commercials were a little before your time, kid," Sam said as he sipped his coffee.

"Remember when we saw _I Love the '80s 3D_ on VH-1?" David Michael reminded him.

"Oh, yeah!" Kristy remembered. "What was his name? John Mo...Mash...Mush--"

"John Moschitta," Mary Anne said. "Did you guys know he's in the Guiness Book of World Records as the fastest talker in the world?"

"Wow!" Jessi exclaimed.

"Hey, remember when we tried to talk that fast?" I asked.

"Oh, my God, that was a hoot!" Claud laughed. Then, after taking a deep breath, she said: "TheMicroMachineManherewithanewli--" But, try as she might, she just couldn't keep herself from laughing and stumbling over her words. Actually, none of us could.

Well, almost none of us.

_"TheseMicroMachinesaresogreat, youcancollectallofthem. Theycomeinalldifferentstyles, andalldifferentshapes, andyou'llenjoyplayingwiththem, andputtingthemupyourbutt,"_ Nicky said, each word clear as a bell, and that was just amazing, considering how fast he'd said it!

Call me crazy, but instead of giving Nicky one of her signature disapproving looks, Kristy was shrieking with laughter along with the rest of us. I, myself, was wondering if the guy at the buffet heard us, how he would've reacted, and what he thought of being mistaken for the Micro-Machine Man. I'm guessing it absolutely drove him nuts.

But on the other hand, _what if _that really was him?


	7. Chapter 6: David Michael

A/N: In case you're wondering, the Micro-Machines bit that Nicky said earlier was what Michael Ian Black said on _I Love the '80s 3D._

**CHAPTER 6: David Michael**

_**A**_fter breakfast, we all got into our vans and were ready to head downtown. I couldn't wait to see Sydney, and I made sure I had a _lot_ of film and batteries with me.

"Well, here we go!" Watson said as he started our van.

"Boy, am I gonna have a lot of pictures to take today!" I commented as we headed out.

"Yeah, same here!" Sam added.

"And am I correct to assume that they're all gonna be pictures of girls?" Charlie asked.

"Well, mostly of Stacey," Sam grinned.

_"Ooooh,"_ I teased, then started making kissing sounds. I know, I'm just an annoying little pest, right? Well, if you had a brother like mine, wouldn't you be?

"Okay, that's enough, David Michael," Mom said. She was in a good mood, but I could tell she meant what she said, so I shut my trap. (Now, if Karen were with us, one could only imagine what _she_ would do.)

We arrived at the docks about an hour and a half later. After a quick head count outside the vans (no, Sam didn't do the bit from _Home Alone_ this time), we were on our way to the ferry.

While we were boarding, Kristy tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Now remember to stay with us, okay? And if you have to go to the bathroom, you are to let one of us know, and come straight back."

"I will," I asssured her. Apparently, Kristy was still having trouble letting go of what had happened at Hammond Beach. I didn't mean to run off and scare her to death, but when you're as hungry as I was, what can you do? Plus, did she really expect a five-year-old to know how long ten minutes are?

"Just don't wander off, okay?" Kristy told me.

"Okay," I agreed. By then, everyone was aboard, and the ferry started pulling away from the dock. Even though I was really looking forward to the tour, part of me was wondering how Margo would hold up. So far, she seemed all right.

One word: AWESOME.

With a capital A.

If I had to pick one word to describe the ride, not to mention the scenery, that would definitely be it. And remember when I said I had a lot of pictures to take? Well, believe me, I did!

I was walking around the deck with Mary Anne and drinking an orange slush. "Whoa, slow down there!" Mary Anne exclaimed. "You'll get a headache if you drink it like that." I guess I was pretty thirsty, because until Mary Anne said that, I didn't really realize just how fast I was going.

"I thought ice cream was supposed to do that," I said, puzzled. And I knew that from experience because that one summer at Shadow Lake, Nicky, Linny, and I had an ice-cream eating race. I won, of course, but I thought my head was literally going to blow up, I was in so much pain. To this day, I can still hear Linny's cackling voice saying, "Havin' a li'l headache, huh, Dave?"

_"Anything_ can mess with you if you consume it too fast," Mary Anne pointed out.

_"Now_ you tell me," I said. I had to go to the bathroom, and I mean really. Luckily, there was one nearby, and Mary Anne knew better than to give me the "I told you so" look, which I absolutely hate. If I had a dollar for every time Karen or one of her friends gave me that look, I could buy my own mansion!

"Don't be long," Mary Anne told me.

"I won't," I answered. And as soon as I said those words, something dawned on me: did Kristy or Claud ever tell her what had happened? If they were smart, and I know they are, they kept quiet about it.

I finished in the bathroom and headed back out to where Mary Anne was waiting. Just as I'd opened the door, I heard it crash into something, maybe the door to the ladies' room. I must've jumped about two feet, but Mary Anne looked like she'd heard a gunshot. What a wuss!

After I got out on the deck, who should happen to be standing there but that girl from yesterday. "Hi," I said. "Sorry if I scared you."

"That's all right," she said softly, looking at the ground. Wow, she was pretty. She had on a navy-blue T-shirt, light blue jeans and white high-tops. I just wish she was looking at me instead of the ground. And I thought Mary Anne was shy!

"David Michael!" Mary Anne called. I heard her, but my mind was still on that girl, who just wouldn't look at me. When I felt Mary Anne's hand on my arm, I snapped back into reality.

"Okay, let's get back to the others," she said. Then she saw the girl. "Oh, hi, Toni!"

_Toni._ That was her name. I knew it started with a T, but that was all I could remember. Anyway, that's when she finally looked up.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. "Mary Anne, right?"

"Uh-huh," Mary Anne said. "This is David Michael."

"Hi, Toni," I said as I offered my hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Toni smiled shyly, taking it. Call me crazy, but my usual feeling of "Eww, girls!" didn't come over me. I mean, for as long as I could remember, just the thought of any girl made me run off in terror. But this time, I felt nothing. Maybe it was because this girl was so shy, or maybe because Mary Anne was there, and she expected me to be polite. I don't know. All I do know is I felt totally different.

"(KCCK) Eath to David Michael; come in, David Michael (KCCK)," I heard a voice say. Obviously Sam's voice, because who else besides Sam would say something like that? Plus, I know very few people who can sound exactly like an intercom.

"Oh, hi, Sam," I said as I let go of Toni's hand and turned around. I wonder if he suspected that anything was going on? God, I hope not!

"Just thought I'd tell you that the tour's almost over," Sam told us.

"Okay," Mary Anne said. "We'll be right with you." After Sam left, Mary Anne turned to Toni and asked, "Listen, does Sara know you're here?"

"Yeah," Toni answered. "In fact, this is usually the time of week me aunt and uncle take us on the ferry. Also, one of me cousins has a concert tonight at the Opera House."

"Really?" I said. "That's where _we're _going tonight!"

"Get out of here!" we both exclaimed.

I couldn't believe my luck! We were going to the same place tonight! As we docked and got off the ferry, I couldn't help thinking that someone up there really liked us.

That evening, Charlie, Sam and I were in our hotel room getting ready for the concert. I was standing in front of the mirror and having a horrible time with my tie. If there's one thing I hate when it comes to clothes, it's ties. "Oh, give me a break," I complained.

Charlie looked up from buffing his shoes and saw me having trouble. "Here, let me help you with that," he said.

"Bless you," I said, in the most relieved voice I'd ever used. "Man, what blockhead invented ties, anyway?"

"I dunno, but I'm guessing he's probably related to the same guy who decided to build New Orleans 80 feet below sea level," Charlie answered as he knelt down to help me with my tie.

"Yeah, probably," I agreed.

"Well, there you go, little buddy!" Charlie said as he finished, then he turned me toward the mirror.

My first thought to seeing myself was, _Wow!_ I had to hand it to Charlie: he really knew how to tie a tie! "Thanks," I smiled.

"No problem," he said, patting my head. And yes, considering how he'd let me borrow some of his styling gel, he was careful not to mess up my hair. And boy, was I glad!

The bathroom door opened just then, and out came Sam, dressed in an all-black suit and a glowing red tie. "You look _mahvelous!"_ he said to his reflection.

"Why, thank you!" I answered cockily. Having a brother who acts this way sure has its benefits, doesn't it?

"Whoa, Sam, how much cologne did you put on?" Charlie gagged as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"Oh, just a drop," Sam answered. "On every square inch of my face."

I got a good laugh, but part of me was a little jealous from not having any cologne. "Hey, Sam, how about sharing the wealth, huh?" I asked.

"Maybe just a dab," Sam decided, picking up the bottle. Then he stopped and looked at me suspiciously. "Why?"

Oh, great. How was I going to explain this? "Oh, nothin', just wanted to see what it felt like," I lied.

"It's for that girl, isn't it?" Sam teased, poking me in the chest. "And don't think I didn't see how you two were looking at each other on the ferry this afternoon!"

Way to be subtle, Mr. Comedian. "Well--"

"I thought so," Sam grinned. He'd busted me good. "Okay, little brother, but just a dab, okay?"

"Sure," I agreed as Sam put a drop on his finger and dabbed both sides of my neck. "Thanks. And whatever you do, _do not_ tell Karen about this, because she'll never let me hear the end of it." And she wouldn't, either. In fact, I know exactly what she'd say if she ever found out: _"David Michael's in lo-ove, David Michael's in lo-ove!"_

"Deal," Sam said, and the three of us left the room. Tonight was defintely going to be an interesting night.

"There it is! There it is!" Vanessa squealed, pointing to the left. And there it was indeed: the Sydney Opera House. I'd seen it on the tour that afternoon when it was daylight, but seeing it at night, as well as up close and personal, was even better. It looked like a bunch of seashells lying on their sides with a whole swarm of fireflies inside them. And of course I got a picture of it.

"Now, David Michael, you know they don't allow photography during the concert, right?" Watson reminded me. I nodded. "So I'll need you to give me your camera before we dock, okay?"

"Okay, Watson," I said as I handed it to him. We soon got off the ferry and went inside.

The auditorium, which was where the concert was going to be, was spectacular. The stage was _huge,_ even bigger than the one at Stoneybrook Elementary and the Stoneybrook Civic Center combined, and there was definitely well over a thousand seats. I don't know the exact number, and to tell you the truth, it would've taken me all night to find out!

"God, would I love to perform here!" Jessi whispered excitedly.

"Yeah, really," Abby agreed. "I gotta tell Anna about this place." (Anna is Abby's twin sister, by the way, and she plays the violin. Jessi is a ballet dancer.)

My brothers, Stacey, Kristy and I found our seats in the 47th row, and they happened to be right in front of the stage. Mom and Watson sat behind us, Mary Anne, Claud and Abby sat behind them, and Jessi and the Pikes sat in front of us. The seat beside me was empty, and I was wondering who would fill that seat when I heard a voice say, "Hi, David."

I looked, and there, sitting beside me, was Toni, and she looked _beautiful._ She had on a dark green long-sleeved dress, black tights and black shoes. Her sister, Sara, was with her, too, as well as another Baby-sitters, Inc. girl, but I didn't mind. Not one bit.

"Hi, Toni," I managed to say, after staring at her with my eyes and mouth wide open and basically looking like a dork. "You...you look terrific."

"Thanks," Toni said softly. "So do you." After hearing her say that, I felt twenty feet tall. Boy, this cologne really does work!

The lights dimmed a few minutes later, and the concert was soon underway. Normally, I think classical music is the most boring thing in the world. But tonight, I was literally forcing myself to stay awake, and not just to prove that Kristy and the others were responsible sitters. I was also doing this for Toni. I wanted to make a good impression, and one way or another, that's exactly what I was going to do.

I was so wrapped up in behaving myself that I didn't feel Toni's hand touching mine when the fourth song started. A few minutes into the song, I looked down and saw that Toni's hand was, in fact, on top of my hand. I also noticed that she was looking straight ahead, and I'm pretty sure there was a tear in her eye.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she whispered, pulling herself together. I had a little packet of tissues in my pocket, so I handed her one. After she took it, she slipped her fingers through mine, and the next thing I knew, we were holding hands. The instant our hands touched, I felt like I was lighting up like a neon sign. My heart was going a mile a minute, and my entire body, from head to toe, was tingling like crazy. It was such a wonderful feeling, and I wanted it to last forever. Also, for the first time in my entire life, I began to know exactly what Sam must've been feeling the first time he and Stacey started being boyfriend-girlfriend. And you know what? It was nowhere near as icky or gross as I'd always thought it was.

In fact, I thought I was in heaven.


	8. Chapter 7: Stacey

**CHAPTER 7: Stacey**

_**T**_he lights started to come up 45 minutes later, so I knew it was time for intermission. And a good thing, too, because I had to take my insulin shot. I started to get up and noticed that Sam was fast asleep. Classical music isn't _that_ boring, is it?

"Sam!" I whispered, nudging his shoulder with my elbow. "Sam, wake up!"

"Allow me, Stace," Kristy volunteered. She pinched his nose shut, leaned over and shouted, "SAM, WAKE THE HELL UP, YOU IDIOT!"

Well, that definitely did the trick, because Sam was wide-awake in a second. I'm just glad David Michael wasn't there to hear that, because I, for one, know exactly what he would've said: "Mo-om! Watson! Kristy said a bad word!"

Anyway, I went to the ladies' room and took my shot. Just when I put away my injection kit and got out a little thing of string cheese, I heard one of the stall doors open and out came Toni. She had the biggest smile on her face and was walking very slowly. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised she wasn't singing "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing"!

"Hi, Toni," I said. "Having a good time?"

"The best," she sighed happily as she went to wash her hands. "David is so cute, isn't he?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "He's a really nice kid, too."

"I'll say," Toni smiled. That's when I noticed that she was just holding her hands underneath the faucet instead of actually washing them. I tapped her shoulder and pointed to the soap dispenser, and that brought her back into reality.

"You know," she continued, soaping her hands up, "he really knows how to treat a girl. He even gave me a tissue."

"Really?" I asked, as I got a couple of paper towels and handed them to her. "I didn't notice. I guess I was too busy watching the concert."

"And we held hands," Toni said, as she dried her hands off. "I've never held hands with a boy before. Well, except for playing ring-around-the-rosy, of course. But this time--" She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Oh, Stacey, it was just magical."

"I'm glad," I said as I patted Toni's shoulder.

"Well, Sara's waiting for me outside, so I guess I'll talk to you after the show, okay?"

"Deal," I agreed, and Toni walked out into the lobby while I finished my snack.

I came out of the ladies' room shortly thereafter and met up with Sara and Chelsea. The first thing I noticed was that all three of us had on the exact same style of dress. The only difference was the color: my dress was black, Sara's was red, and Chelsea's was blue. Boy, whoever invented the phrase "great minds think alike" sure knew what they were talking about!

"Hi, Stace," Chelsea called, waving me over. I walked over to where they were.

"Are you enjoying the show?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I'm having a great time," I said. "Despite the fact that my boyfriend was sound asleep. It's a concert, not a lecture!"

"Exactly," Chelsea agreed. "And I saw how your friend--Kristy, right?"

"Yup."

"I saw how Kristy woke him up. Just between the three of us, if I were her, I would've done the exact same thing!"

After we finished laughing, Chelsea said to Sara, "Well, I'm gonna go back to me seat now."

"Okay," Sara said. "Tell Toni I'll be right with her."

"Right."

After Chelsea left, I said to Sara, "I gotta tell you, your sister seems like a real sweetheart."

"Thanks," Sara smiled. "You know, ever since we first came to the orphanage, Toni's been very shy and withdrawn around people, especially kids her own age and people in our family. I guess losing Mum and Dad really affected her in more ways than one. But lately, I've noticed how she's been opening up a little more since you and your friends came along. And I saw David give her a tissue during _Mozart's Requiem._ That was Dad's favorite song, and they played it at our parents' funeral."

"Wow," I murmured. Listening to what Sara had to say made me remember going to Claud's grandmother, Mimi's, funeral. The one thing I'll never forget about that day is seeing Claud tossing that white rose into the grave. "I'm really sorry, Sara."

"That's all right," Sara said softly. I could tell she was forcing herself not to cry. "Well, they're flashing the lights, so we better take our seats. And Stacey?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks so much for listening," she told me, and then she gave me a hug. I felt terrible for Sara and Toni, losing both parents, living in an orphnage and wondering when, or if, they'd ever get to go to safe, loving homes someday. I also thought of Mary Anne, Abby, and Jason, all of whom had lost a parent. Out of those three, Abby was the only one who was old enough to have memories of her dad, whereas neither Mary Anne nor Jason ever knew their absent parent. But despite that, they seemed to have dealt with it pretty well.

We all took our seats sometime before the second half of the concert began. After I sat down, I happened to look to my right and see Toni hugging David Michael's arm and laying her head on his shoulder. That was so sweet, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sara looking fondly at them.

As I watched the rest of the concert, I said a silent prayer for Sara and Toni in the hopes that a loving family would soon adopt them and give them the love and care that they deserved. I also knew that their parents were watching them from heaven and hoping for the best for them.

After the concert, we all met in one of the restaurants that was in the Opera House. It looked a little like Sardi's, but without the pictures of celebrities on the walls. Also, the servers all had on black short-sleeved shirts and tux pants instead of tuxedos. It struck me as a little strange at first, but I had to admit that the food was great.

"Wasn't that a wonderful concert?" Mary Anne asked as she took a bite of her chicken tetrazinni.

"Definitely," Claud agreed. "Especially that one really sad song. You know, from _Amadeus."_

"You mean _Mozart's Requiem_?" I asked. "I enjoyed it up until Sam fell asleep. Oh, well, at least he doesn't snore."

"And thank God Alan Gray's not here," Kristy added. "Otherwise, I think we all know what he would've done." And just so we'd know what she meant, she proceeded to imitate that dreaded high-pitched laugh. There are three things that I absolutely hate listening to, and that's one of them. The other two are construction workers and people cracking their knuckles. I'd rather spend two and a half hours having a root canal with no anesthetics whatsoever than listen to any of those things.

"Hi, guys," we heard Abby call. When we looked up, we saw that she wasn't alone. In fact, she was on the arm of this drop-dead _gorgeous_ guy. He had dark brown hair that had red highlights in it, hazel eyes and a diamond earring in his left ear. He was also wearing a black tux with the tails, a white vest and a white bow tie, and he looked around 15 or 16 years old. "This is Justin Ross, Erin's brother."

"G'day," he grinned. And wow, what a deep voice he had! If you can imagine hearing James Earl Jones with an Australian accent, that'd be Justin. "Nice to meet you girls."

"You, too," I said, shaking his hand. (Can you say "death grip"?) "Would you like to sit down?"

"Thanks," he said, and he seated himself between Abby and I. That's when I noticed that he had on a Medic-Alert bracelet. I had mine on, too, but instead of "DIABETES", his said "EPILEPSY". Small world, huh?

After we finished introducing ourselves, Mal asked, "So, what brings you to the Opera House?"

"Well, one of me cousins is first cello in the orchestra," Justin said. "We always come to see him perform, and next week, they're leaving for a tour of Europe. One of their stops is the Royal State Opera House in Vienna."

"Really? That's great!" Jessi smiled.

"I'll say," Justin agreed. "Me cousin is _the_ musician in our family, whereas I couldn't hold a note if it had handles and Krazy-Glue on it!"

"Yeah, same here," Abby said sympathetically. "My twin sister, Anna, is our family musician, and I'm the family jock."

"As am I," Justin said. "Rugby."

"Soccer," Abby told him.

"Softball," Kristy piped up.

"Don't look at me. I'm just as unathletic as the next person," Mary Anne said as she held her hands up.

"Yeah, I hear you," Mal said as she raised her glass of Sierra Mist. "Here's to sucking at sports."

"Cheers," Claud agreed as she, Mary Anne, Mal and Jessi raised their drinks.

Amidst our laughter, Erin had come up to our table. "Ready to go now?" she asked Justin.

"Yeah," he answered. "Well, nice meeting all of you, and I'll see you later."

"See ya," Abby called as they left. And as soon as they were gone, we all started babbling excitedly about how cute Justin was, how adorable Toni and David Michael looked together, and everything that had happened on our vacation so far. In fact, we were so wrapped up in our conversation that we almost didn't see Kristy's parents approach our table.

"If you're all done, we'd like to have you meet us outside for our picture," Mr. Brewer said.

"Okay, Watson," Kristy answered. We finished what was left of our dinner and followed them outside.

It was a crystal-clear night. The stars were out, and there was a full moon and a slight breeze. We all assembled on the front steps as Kristy's family, and Mr. and Mrs. Pike, raised their cameras. "Say cheese!" Mrs. Pike said.

"Provolone!" Abby shouted. We all groaned, but still found Abby's joke amusing. And yes, we were soon able to focus on having our picture taken.

All in all, a _great_ day.


	9. Chapter 8: Nicky

**CHAPTER 8: Nicky**

_**"L**__ike a surgeon, HEY! Cuttin' for the very first--_(gargle, swish, spit)_--time; like a sur-ur-ur-ur-geon; organ transplants are my-y line!"_

I know, only people who are horrible singers sing in the shower and can get away with it. But I can also get away with it, for two reasons: one, I'm actually a pretty good singer, and two, my brothers were still sleeping. And at 6:45, too! I can't _believe_ they're still in bed, and during summer vacation!

After I finished my Grammy-worthy performance, I turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and dried off. It wasn't until I was getting dressed that I heard one of my brothers--probably Byron--say, "Hey, could you sing a little louder, Nick? I don't think everyone on this floor is awake just yet!"

I opened the door, and sure enough, there was Byron, shaking his head in annoyance. Jordan was just getting out of bed, but Adam--loud, obnoxious Adam--was still fast asleep! What has the world come to?

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, in the voice I use whenever Claire gets mad at me for telling her my "special power" speech. "Did _moi_ wake you?"

"You might say that," Byron answered sarcastically. "I wouldn't be surprised if the desk clerk came banging on the door to tell you to put a lid on it."

"Admit it, Byron, you liked it, you really liked it," I teased.

"Okay, you're a good singer," Byron said at last. "Actually, it does come in handy, since the alarm clock's a piece of junk."

We almost gave ourselves stomach cramps from laughing, but much to our amazement, Adam slept through even _that!_

"Won't anything wake him?" Jordan asked.

"Allow me," I said. I got a dry washcloth from the towel rack, put it in freezing-cold water and snuck over to Adam. You see, what I was going to do was wring it out right over his face. I can still see Buddy Barrett's reaction when I did that to him at Camp Mohawk. The only difference was, the water was from the lake, and no, it's not quite as clean as tap water.

Well, folks, I never got a chance to repeat my finest moment in practical joking, because just when I raised the washcloth over Adam, he said threateningly, without even opening his eyes, "Try it and you're dog food."

Upon hearing this, I started to back off, but just as I turned around, I felt the washcloth being yanked out of my hand. The next thing I felt was something hitting the back of my neck, like a whip. And it was _loud._

"OW!" I shouted, spinning around. Adam was sitting up in bed and twisting the washcloth around and around to get it nice and tight.

"Aww, does it hurt very much, sweetie-pie?" he smiled through clenched teeth, and then he whipped it at me again. But this time, I jumped out of the way, and Jordan got it instead. Right on the hienie, I might add. Never has such a loud snap sounded so funny.

"What'd you do that for?" Jordan yelled as he furiously pulled his pants on.

"Hey, I was aiming for this little worm!" Adam protested, pointing in my direction.

"Well, in that case, I'd be more than happy to help you out," Jordan said calmly, holding out his hand, and Adam, with an evil grin on his face, delivered the washcloth to him.

Uh-oh.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! Jordan was on a tear, just whipping the bejesus out of me with that cloth. I was screaming, bolting around the room and tripping over blankets, pillows and suitcases, desperate to find a hiding place. Adam was sitting back on the bed and enjoying the whole thing. And where was Byron? Safe and sound in the bathroom, of course. What kind of brother was he?

Worst of all, given to the size of our room, I didn't really have anywhere to run to, except in the corner. Naturally, that's exactly where Jordan was expecting me to go. I shut my eyes and braced myself for the worst. This was it. This was going to hurt like nothing has ever--

Our dad has never turned the doorknob to open the door to our room in his life.

"HEY!" he bellowed. In that instant, everything just stopped cold. I looked up to see Dad standing in the inside doorway (our room is right next to the one he was sharing with Mom, Claire, and Margo) in faded jeans and his arms folded across his chest. If Triple-H had seen the look on that man's face, you can bet your last dollar he'd run screaming like a little girl.

"What's going on in here?" Dad demanded.

"He started it!" Adam complained, pointing at me.

"Squealer!" I cried.

"I don't care who started what!" Dad snapped. "I just want to know what's going on."

That's when Byron came out of the bathroom and said, in the calmest, most matter-of-fact voice known to man, "Dad, on behalf of Byron, I'd just like to say that Byron is innocent."

"What a prince," I muttered.

"All right, cut it out," Dad ordered. "The next one of you guys who starts any more trouble spends the rest of the vacation right here with Mom and me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Dad," my brothers answered in unison.

"Is that clear?" Dad repeated to me.

"Yes," I mumbled. And with that, Dad left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Boy, somebody definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed!

After breakfast, Mom and Dad drove us to the Hobart mansion. The Baby-sitters, Inc. girls had a meeting that day, and of course they invited the BSC. I really like those girls a lot. We all do. And it's so cool how much like the BSC they are.

"I wonder why they're meeting this early?" Mal wondered.

"I dunno," Byron answered. "You think it's an emergency meeeting?"

"It might be," Mal said. "We'll find out when we get there."

We soon pulled up in front of the Hobarts' and got out of the vans. The first thing I noticed was how much Dave was smiling when he got out of the other van. That could only mean one thing: Toni. We almost had to pry them apart with crowbars at the concert last night. I mean, this was David Michael Thomas, the same kid who always thought girls were disgusting. I still remember the look on his face when Margo kissed him on the school playground when they were in first grade (I was in second). And right in front of all the other kids. I thought he was going to puke his guts out on the spot. And here he was, doing the very thing he swore he'd never do: he was falling for a girl.

"Hey, Dave," I said. "How's it goin'?"

"Couldn't be better," Dave sighed. "Toni's great, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's okay, I guess," I admitted. Honestly, what I wanted to do was slap him silly and tell him to get his head out of the clouds and back on his shoulders where it belonged. But I changed my mind, because James was coming up to us just then.

"Hey, guys!" he called. "Hey, there's an old-fashioned pump out behind the house. Wanna see if it works?"

"Sure!" I exclaimed. I grabbed a nearby bucket and the three of us ran to the back of the yard. The rest of us Pikes, Mathew, and Johnny were all busy playing Pike-tag, so we didn't have to worry about them telling on us.

When we got to the back of the yard, right there, just where James said, was the pump. The handle looked pretty old and rusty, and so did the faucet. Part of me kind of expected that pump to start whimpering for oil, like the Tin Man in _The Wizard of Oz._ That's how sad it looked.

"James, you can't be serious," Dave said. "There's no way this pump could possibly work. Look at how old it is."

"Well, let's check it out anyway, mate," James urged. "Me dad just oiled it up this morning, so it should still work."

Dave and I looked at each other, thinking that James was off his rocker. On the other hand, though, he did say that Mr. Hobart had oiled it, so why not give it a try? "Okay," I agreed. I put the bucket under the faucet while Dave and James grabbed the handle. "Okay, let 'er rip!"

They pumped and pumped, but so far, no water was coming. And even though the pump had been oiled, it still made a grinding noise that really hurt my ears. Mr. Hobart didn't use enough oil, I guess.

I was just getting ready to get up and leave when all of a sudden, a huge gush of water splashed out and knocked the bucket over. "It works!" James cried. But when they started pumping again, nothing happened. Still, at least we knew it was working.

Quickly, I grabbed the bucket and put it back into place. "Okay, I'm ready!" I told them, and they started pumping again. This time, water started coming out more smoothly, and was going into the bucket like it was supposed to. I guess that's why I didn't feel something crawling on my leg.

At first, I thought it was one of my brothers or sisters trying to play a joke on me. But when I turned and looked, I saw a big spider on my leg. And I mean _BIG._ It was about the size of a baby's hand. I never imagined that it was even remotely possible for a spider to be anywhere near that big. But it was there, no doubt about it.

_"Aaaahh!" _I frantically trying to brush the spider away, and in the process, not only did I knock the bucket of water over, but I wound up right underneath the faucet. Oh, in case you don't know what happened next, I got soaked to the skin. And in this weather, it was _freezing._

"Oh, my God, that's cold!" I shouted. James and Dave instantly stopped what they were doing, then looked at each other, and at me, wide-eyed in panic, as if to say, "Oh, no, _now_ we've done it!" And believe you me, they definitely did it!

But then, instead of doing something to help me, they collapsed in a fit of laughter. I couldn't believe it. They were _laughing!_ Didn't they know that I was dripping wet, or even care, for that matter? What was wrong with those two?

Well, they didn't laugh for too long, because standing on the back porch were Mom, Mrs. Brewer, and Mrs. Hobart, and they were looking at us like we'd just grown wings and antennae. "What happened out here?" Mom exclaimed.

Dead silence.

"Hi, Mom," we all said, as innocent as we could possibly sound. Obviously, it didn't do any good, because Mom came marching over and grabbed me by the arm.

"Nicholas Pike, you're sopping wet!" she cried in disbelief. "Get into this house right now before you catch pneumonia!"

"It wasn't Nicky's fault, Mrs. Pike," James explained hurriedly. "I wanted to see if the pump still worked, and since Dad oiled it, I just assumed that it did."

Upon hearing this, our moms either sighed (Mrs. Hobart), shook their heads (Mrs. Brewer) or threw up their hands (Mom). But you know what? For some reason, none of them yelled.

"I understand," Mrs. Hobart said calmly. "But in the future, you should ask one of us to help you. Okay?"

"Okay, Mum," James answered softly. He really looked ashamed of himself.

"All right, inside with you," Mom ordered, ushering me toward the house. Then she stopped. "What is that?"

"Uh, what's what?" Dave asked.

_"What _is _that?"_ Mom repeated, her voice rising on each word. We all looked to where she was pointing. Apparently, the bucket had knocked over a pot of lilacs, and there was a big pile of dirt on the ground, some of which was wet from the water. "That is a mess! I want it cleaned up, boys!"

Amidst the responses of "Oh, yeah! Sure, Mrs. Pike!", Mom was hauling me inside. I guess she was convinced that I was seconds away from turning into a Pikesicle, but I felt fine. Mostly, I was glad that unlike my brothers, James and Dave didn't blame it all on me.


	10. Chapter 9: Jessi

**CHAPTER 9: Jessi**

_**I**_n case you're wondering, none of us saw what was going on at the pump, because we were all in the Baby-sitters, Inc. headquarters for their meeting, and just as Mal had predicted, it was an emergency meeting. And you know that saying that says you're never fully prepared for bad news? Well, this sure as hell was bad news, and no, none of us were prepared for it.

"I guess you're wondering why I've called this emergency meeting," Kelly began. "Sara's already told me what happened, and I'm going to let her tell the rest of you. Sara?"

Sara stood up and took a deep breath. She had a sad look on her face, a look that indicated that she was seconds away from tears. "Thanks, Kelly," she said. Then she faced the rest of us. "I've just been informed that...well, the orphanage is...they're having money problems and...they might be closing."

As soon as those words came out of Sara's mouth, it was so quiet in that garden house that you could hear a pin drop. I haven't heard such a deafening silence since Claud told us about how she'd heard Mr. Nicholls hit one of his sons. And as for which news was worse, I couldn't tell you.

"Are you sure?" I managed to ask.

Sara nodded sadly. "One of me teachers told us," she answered.

"Oh, Sara, that's terrible," Mary Anne murmured, putting her hand on Sara's. "How's Toni taking it? Does she understand what's going on?"

"I've tried to explain it to her the best way I could," Sara told us. "She seemed to understand. Not the money part, but she does know something's wrong. She's afraid we'll wind up living in the streets."

"Oh, my God," Stacey whispered. I knew exactly what was going through her mind. You see, when we were in New York, Stacey and I were on our way to Chock Full o' Nuts when we saw a homeless woman standing near the "DON'T WALK" sign, and with her was a little boy that I naturally assumed was her son. They were both holding styrofoam cups and begging people for money. Some people gave them some change, but most of them either ignored them or had some pretty awful things to say to them. One guy in particular, this real son of a bitch, actually spit in this poor woman's face and called her a really dirty name. Had Stacey not been there, I would've kicked the guy right square in the balls.

"How could this have happened?" Lori asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that Mr. Gordon might know something about it," Sara said. "He runs the orphanage."

Mal and I looked at each other. I could tell she was remembering when her dad was out of work. To this day, I still can't believe that Vanessa actually went through with not only selling her poetry (even though no magazines bought it), but also styling the other kids' hair. In my opinion, she should stick to poetry.

"So, is there anything we can do?" Mal asked.

"I have an idea," Erin spoke up. "Justin, you know, me brother, plays rugby. I can talk to him and see about him getting a game together to help raise money."

"And me sisters and I have a whole bunch of jewelry we don't wear anymore," Zoe added. "I'm sure I can talk them into selling it."

"Great idea!" Kelly smiled. "You can sell it at the game. I'm sure Justin won't mind a bit."

"And the rest of us can sell hot dogs, chips and Kool-Aid," Abby suggested.

"Great!" Beth said. "You can't have a rugby match without refreshments!"

"I'll say," I agreed.

"Well, I think we've definitely got our work cut out for us," Kelly commented. "I hereby declare this emergency meeting of Baby-sitters, Inc. closed."

As we left the garden house, we felt so much better. We were going to save that orphanage for sure.

It took us at least a day and a half to get everything organized, but we succeeded, and the next afternoon, we were all setting everything up at Justin's high school's rugby field. Claud and Mary Anne had made a big sign that said "HELP THE ORPHANAGE". And yes, Mary Anne did the handwriting and Claud did the artwork. I'd rather not think about how that sign would've looked were it the other way around.

A few minutes later, we saw the Hobarts arriving. "Hi!" I called, waving to them as Mal ran up to Ben and kissed him. And to no one's surprise, the rest of their siblings had their usual grossed-out looks on their faces. I don't know which they thought was more gross, Mal and Ben kissing, or Abby swooning over Justin.

"Hi," Justin said. "I bet you're all looking forward to watching the game, huh?"

"Is it anything like regular football?" Jordan asked.

_I hope not,_ I thought. I still remember Mal telling me about how, when she and Ben were watching their siblings, Nicky got the brilliant idea to teach the Hobarts how to play football. And yes, I mean American football. Mal says that the image of James' leg being bent at a 45-degree angle is one that will never leave her. I'm just glad I wasn't there because I would've either passed out on the spot or given Nicky a piece of my mind.

"Sort of, only they don't wear helmets or shoulder pads," I answered, in an effort to hide how anxious I was feeling.

Upon hearing this, Margo, who sounded just as worried as I was feeling, asked, "Won't they hurt themselves?"

"Naw. As a matter of fact, I think rugby players are much more careful when they play," Justin said.

With those words, we felt somewhat relieved, but at the same time, we were also hoping nobody would get hurt.

None of us could've possibly suspected what would happen.

The game was soon underway, and to tell you the truth, it was very intersting to watch. Besides the fact that they didn't wear helmets or pads, another big difference between rugby and regular football is their uniforms. They made the guys look more like soccer players, but it was still a pretty rough game. Thankfully, the kids had their hands full selling their refreshments.

"All right, Justin! Go for it!" Kristy and Erin were shouting. I saw a guy on the opposite team kick the ball, and Justin was running to catch it, but all of a sudden, he stopped short. What was going on? Didn't he see the ball?

The next thing I saw made my heart jump up into my throat: Justin's eyes popped wide open, almost as big as silver dollars. It looked like he was choking on something. He then fell over and started shaking uncontrollably. I also heard him making these loud, deep grunting noises, like an injured moose.

"JUSTIN!" Erin screeched, running out onto the field. I've never heard such a terrified scream in my whole life, from Erin, and also from me.

Two EMTs were by Justin's side in one second flat. One of them shooed Erin out of the way so they could do their job. As one of the Baby-sitters, Inc. members--Beth, I think it was--led Erin back to the sidelines, I heard one of the kids wailing, "What's going on?! Is he all right?!"

I looked over to my left and saw Johnny. He was standing there in hysterics, just howling up a storm. Vanessa, Margo, and Claire clung to each other in fear, and Mal and Ben really had their hands full trying to calm them down. I ran over to where they were and gave them a hand.

Nicky and the triplets came running up just then. I'm guessing they'd been in the men's room, because they had no idea what was going on.

"What happened?" Byron asked.

"Justin's having a seizure," Mal answered worriedly. "The medics are helping him now."

"Is he gonna be all right?" Adam wanted to know.

"I think so," I answered. But the truth was, I didn't know myself.

Finally, Chelsea came up to us. "He's all right," she said. "But they still want to take him to the hospital."

"What happened to him?" James asked, putting a comforting arm around Johnny.

"Justin has epilepsy," Erin explained. Although she was no longer freaking out, I could tell she was pretty upset with what she'd just seen.

As I watched the ambulance drive away, I was hoping Justin would pull through. Also, I didn't know who I should've been more worried about, Justin or the kids.


	11. Chapter 10: James

**CHAPTER 10: James**

_**I **_couldn't stop thinking about what happened that day. It wasn't just seeing Justin having a seizure that scared me. It was also where it happened. I mean, people go to rugby matches to have fun, not get sick. And there was also Erin. I've never seen anyone get that scared before. I don't know who was more scared: Erin, Justin, me brothers and I, or the Pikes. If Ben and Mal hadn't been there, I think we all would've lost it completely.

The next morning after brecky, I decided to have a talk with Kelly. She, Aunt Ann, and Mum were out in the backyard tending to the flowerbed.

"Kelly?" I asked. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure," she said, removing her gloves. "Let's go to the garden house."

"Okay," I agreed. We walked across the yard to the garden house, which is also the Baby-sitters, Inc. headquarters, and Kelly opened the door and let me go inside.

"So, what's on your mind?" Kelly asked as we sat down at the table. And yes, she sat in her president's chair, which was at the head of the table. I wouldn't be surprised if it had a sticker on the back that said "PROPERTY OF KELLY ANN HOBART".

"Well," I began, taking a deep breath, "I can't get what happened yesterday out of me head. I mean, I've never seen anyone have a seizure before."

"I understand," Kelly answered. "That had to have been pretty scary for you, huh?"

I nodded. I also felt a huge knot in me throat, and if I even tried to say a single word, I can assure you that I would've started bawling.

"James, look at me," Kelly said as she placed her hands on me shoulders. "He's all right. I got a phone call from Erin last night, and she told me that he's doing fine. He'll have to stay in the hospital for a day or two, but he'll be back to his old self before you know it."

I smiled a little when Kelly said that. "Thanks," I said softly.

"You got it," Kelly grinned as she gave me a hug, and we walked out of the garden house together. Good old Kelly. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Later that day, Dave, Nicky, and I were upstairs in the room I was sharing with Ben, and just hanging out, basically. Ever since the pump incident, we'd started becoming good friends. Recently, Nicky told me how grateful he was that I'd taken full responsibility for getting him all wet. That's also one of several reasons why we were up here. You see, since then, our mums told us that we weren't allowed anywhere near the pump on our own.

"Oh, remember when Kelly and the others had their meeting the other day?" I asked.

"Yeah," Nicky said.

"Well, I heard Kelly and Sara saying something about the orphanage closing," I told them.

"Oh, poor Toni," Dave whispered. By this point, Nicky and I knew that he liked Toni. And when I say "like", I mean, the same way Ben likes Mal. In my opinion, I thought that was pretty cool.

"Is that why we had the rugby game yesterday?" Nicky asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "I think that refreshment stand did pretty well."

"Oh, definitely," Dave agreed. "Did you see how many people were wanting our hot dogs? The orphanage should have enough money before too long."

"I hope so," I said. "Hey! I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Nicky asked.

I reached underneath the bed and pulled out me art supplies. It has all kinds of things: colored pencils, markers, paper, watercolor paints, you name it. I'd bet anything that Claudia would feel like she was in heaven if she saw what I had. As for whether or not she'd start singing "Cheek to Cheek", well, search me, mate. "We can make pictures and sell them around the neighborhood."

"Great idea!" Dave said.

"Let's tell our brothers and sisters," Nicky suggested. "They might want to help."

"And let's not forget the Baby-sitters Club," I added, "not to mention Baby-sitters, Inc. They'll definitely be glad."

"Yeah!" Nicky exclaimed as we all high-fived.

"Great," I said. "I'll go tell Kelly, and we'll start making calls to the hotel, and her friends. You guys get the art supplies organized." With that, I put me fist out, and Dave put his hand on it, then Nicky put his hand on Dave's, and so on.

"Leeeet's DO IT!" we all shouted in unison. This was going to be the best project ever.


	12. Chapter 11: Ben

**CHAPTER 11: Ben**

_**G**_'day, mates, Ben Hobart here. And let me tell you, there was quite a crowd at the Hobart mansion today: the BSC, Baby-sitters, Inc., me brothers, the Pikes, Dave, Toni, the Brewers, Mum and Dad, Aunt Ann and Uncle Mike, and me. Oh, in case you're wondering what's going on, we were all hard at work raising money for the orphanage. You see, what we were doing was drawing and painting pictures to sell. And even though there was adult supervision, the dining room was still a zoo!

"Lookin' good, Johnny!" I commented as I looked to me right. When I saw what he was drawing, I had to admit that I was more than a little puzzled as to what exactly I was looking at. It looked like one of those ink blots that psychiatrists use, only it was in almost every color imaginable, as opposed to black and white. "What is it?"

Johnny looked at it for a minute. "I'm not too sure, but I think it's a dingo," he answered. From the tone of his voice, I could tell he was either a little disappointed as to how his picture was turning out, or he had no idea what he was making, either.

I took a closer look at what he'd made. "Well, it does look a little like a dingo," I said reassuringly. Luckily, that managed to cheer him up a little.

Then Claire, who was seated across from us, saw Johnny's little project. "Is that a silly-billy-goo-goo?" she asked. I was able to keep myself from laughing, on account that somebody's feelings--namely Johnny's--might get hurt. But much to me surprise, Johnny was just laughing his head off.

"Yeah, I think so!" he giggled. That's when Claire held up her own creation, which was even less identifiable than Johnny's. Every square inch of her paper was covered in crayon, marker and colored pencil.

"What's this?" Mal asked her sister.

"I made a silly-billy-goo-goo, too!" Claire cried. Boy, talk about bringing the house down! I'm just glad nobody spilled anything or messed up what they were doing.

After giving Mathew a blue pencil, I got up from the table and was on me way to the kitchen for a Fanta when I passed James, Claud, and Byron. When I saw what they were working on, I was just bowled over. They were drawing a _very_ detailed picture of the Outback. Claud was doing most of the drawing, James was coloring, and every so often, Byron was asking him what color pencil to use. It was really something!

"That's fantastic!" I exclaimed. And you better believe I meant it. It looked _exactly_ like the Outback, enough to remind me of the time me third-grade class went on an overnight camping trip on the last week of school before Christmas vacation. That's how great it looked.

"Thanks, Ben," James grinned. Then he gestured toward Claud to show me what she was working on. Turns out, she was adding a picture of her and Jason Everett, her boyfriend, on his motor scooter.

"Looks great," I commented.

"Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Claud sighed.

"No, I mean the picture," I told her.

"Oh!" Claud said with an embarrassed laugh. "Thanks, Ben." I laughed, shook me head and headed to the kitchen.

As I opened the icebox, I happened to glance over me shoulder and see Kelly talking on the phone. (By the way, I should mention that the kitchen phone is one of those old-fashioned Bakelite phones. You know, the kind that hangs on the wall and has a crank on the side. I thought for sure those had long since gone extinct.)

"You _will?_ Oh, that's great!" I heard her say. "Okay, I'll tell the others. Thanks a lot...'Bye!" After she hung up, she turned to me, beaming. "That was Mrs. Cooper, Joan's mum. She teaches art at the youth center, and she says we can have the art sale in the gym!"

"All _right!"_ I shouted as we high-fived. "Let's go tell everybody!" And we hurried into the dining room. I was so psyched I completely forgot about me drink. Oh, well.

The next afternoon, we were all in the gym at the youth center, hanging our artwork all over the walls and chattering away excitedly.

"I don't think there's a fridge in the entire world that could hold all of this!" Abby commented as she finished hanging up a painting of the city of Jerusalem.

"Yeah, I hear you, girl," Kristy agreed. She was helping James and Mathew put their pictures up, including that wonderful Outback picture. Then, on her way to where Sara, Toni, and Dave were, she stopped. Apparently, something in that picture had caught her eye. And no, I don't mean the picture of Claud and Jason. "Is that...is that a jawa?"

I walked over to the Outback picture and had a look-see. Yup, that was definitely a jawa. I knew that straightaway, because all three of me brothers are _Star Wars_ junkies. When I saw that little hooded alien standing there, I was trying to decide whether to ask who put it there or just let it go.

"What do you think, Ben?" Byron smiled proudly.

"You drew that?" I asked. I won't lie to you, I was a little surprised. I thought for sure one of me brothers had drawn it.

"Yup," Byron answered.

"Well, I don't remember seeing any jawas when I went to the Outback," I admitted. "Nice touch, though."

"Thanks," Byron said. "I thought about adding Mos Eisley up here in the corner, but I didn't have room."

I grinned, then gave Byron one of Kristy's signature arm-punches. Now that I think about it, I guess that's why I didn't notice the look on Margo's face.

When I started over to Johnny and Claire's area (which, by the way, had a sign that said, appropriately, "50 CENTS FOR A SILLY-BILLY-GOO-GOO"), I happened to see Margo staring dreamily at me (at least, I _think_ she was looking at me). I knew that look right off the bat, because Karen, Kristy's little stepsister, almost always looks at Jason the same way. The next thing I saw was Mal waving her hand in front of her sister's face in an attempt to get her attention. It must've worked, because Margo automatically went back to what she was doing.

"Did you see how she was looking at you?" Mathew asked me. I could tell he definitely did.

"Yeah," I said. "Actually, Mathew, I think she was looking at you."

"Are you sure?"

"I think you're the one she was looking at," I insisted. Margo had to have been looking at Mathew that way. After all, he was in the same age group as her, and besides, she knew that Mal was my sheila. Sounds pretty logical, doesn't it?

"Oh. Okay," Mathew said, and put up the last of his artwork. He didn't appear to give Margo's expression another thought.

Anyway, all I knew was that the art show would be a success, considering what the money was for.


	13. Chapter 12: Abby

A/N: I hope this isn't too similar to chapter 19 of _Starring the BSC, AGAIN!_.

**CHAPTER 12: Abby**

_**W**_ell, a little after 6:30, we were ready to begin. And believe me, I sure as hell didn't expect to see anywhere near as many people as I did. I expected to see maybe a few here and there, but there was almost a hundred! I guess good news really does travel fast, huh?

I met up with Zoe just as the sun had finished setting. "So, how do you think it's going?" I asked her as I took a puff from my inhaler. Is it just me, or does my asthma pick the worst times to act up? On the upside, my sinuses were fine. For now, at least.

"Oh, I think it's going pretty well," Zoe answered. She was helping herself to an oatmeal-raisin cookie and a cup of pink lemonade. (I don't know why, but part of me was wondering what Dawn would've thought of those cookies. I'm just glad they weren't chocolate chip or sugar cookies, because if they were, that girl would lock herself in the bathroom with her toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste the size of a Buick!)

"I especially like your drawing of the Manhattan skyline," Zoe continued. "It makes me feel like I'm actually there."

"Thanks," I smiled. "Of course, Stacey gave me a hand with it, because she was born and raised in Manhattan. I've only been there once before Dad died. The four of us saw a Broadway revival of _A Chorus Line."_

"Oh, cool!" Zoe grinned. "I've never seen the stage show, but I did see the movie. You know, with Michael Douglas. I just loved it."

"I haven't seen the movie," I said. "I guess I'll have to either rent it or hope that it's what we'll be seeing on the flight home. By the way, if you ever fly anywhere, make sure the in-flight movie isn't _Howard the Duck_, or as I call it, _Howard the Schmuck."_

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh, my _God,_ it sucked. I don't which was worse: the storyline, Lea Thompson's hair or the fact that after that movie came out, nobody's taken George Lucas seriously since then."

"Well, you'd love _A Chorus Line_, Abby," Zoe told me as she finished her cookie. By this point, we were standing in front of the Outback drawing. And just as Ben and the others had said, it was fantastic. I especially liked the jawa that Byron drew.

"How did we get into this mess? I really don't see how," I said, in the best Threepio voice I could manage. "We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life."

The entire time, Zoe was just laughing her head off. "That's great, Abby!" she cried.

"Thanks," I giggled. That's when I noticed Justin and Erin. They were standing near Johnny and Claire's area.

"Very creative," I heard Erin say. "You've really made good use of the colors, too."

"Thanks, Erin," Johnny said. "Oh, how are you feeling, Justin?"

"I'm feeling better, thanks," Justin answered reassuringly. "And don't worry, it doesn't happen very often. Actually, since me doctor started me on this new medicine, I almost never have seizures anymore."

"Good," Johnny responded. He sounded very relieved, considering how scared he was at the rugby game.

Zoe and I soon made our way over to Justin and Erin. "Hi, guys," I greeted them. And you want to know something? The sight of Justin was really making me weak in the knees, but I wasn't about to show it. Otherwise, I don't even wanna _think_ about how Johnny and Claire would've reacted, because hearing them either making kissing sounds or shouting _"Ewww!"_ was the absolute last thing I wanted.

"G'day," Erin smiled. "Having a good time?"

"Oh, yeah," I agreed. And I was, despite the fact that my mind was screaming, _Oh, no, look at the way you're looking at Justin! Don't let any of the kids see!_

Too late.

_"So now I co-o-ome to yo-o-ou, with o-o-open a-a-arms!"_ Adam sang at the top of his lungs. Even though he's actually a decent singer (okay, he's a million times better than me), that didn't mean he didn't attract the attention of literally everybody in the gym. In fact, I wanted to disappear. Then, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did.

_"Abby an' Justin sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"_ the rest of the Pike and Hobart kids (except for Mal and Ben, obviously) chanted, as well as Toni and David Michael. I couldn't have felt any more embarrassed if I was standing there in the buff. And my face felt like it was ten times redder than the highlights in Justin's hair. Fortunately, before I could either a) shout "EVERYBODY SHUT UP!", like Uncle Jocko in _Gypsy_, or b) make a beeline for the nearest ladies' room, Justin took my arm and very quickly ushered me outside.

I'd never felt more relieved to get the hell out of there.

Justin and I then found ourselves in the courtyard outside the gym. Call me crazy, but being out here reminded me of the elementary school Anna and I went to on Long Island. Besides having everyone call us by both our names, which soon led us to being color-coded, the one memory in particular that came back to me was the day we'd found out about Dad's death. It was right after lunch, and we were called into the principal's office to find Grandpa Morris, Mom's father. The look on his face when I saw him standing there is one that'll stay with me forever. In fact, this courtyard almost made me feel like I was reliving that horrible day all over again. Even now, I still find it hard to accept that he's gone.

"You all right?" Justin's voice interrupted my thoughts. I immediately pulled myself out of my daydream and saw Justin standing in front of me, his beautiful hazel eyes looking directly into mine. The moonlight made me even more grateful that I was with him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I told him. To be perfectly honest with you, I was a helluva lot more than just fine, for two reasons: one, he realized just how embarrassed I was in that gym and saved my _tuchas_, and two, I really liked him. And I mean I _liked_ him, liked him. If you looked up "drop-dead gorgeous" in the dictionary, there's no doubt that there'd be a picture of him.

"Good," Justin said. "I could tell you really needed a break from those kids."

Can this guy read my mind or what?

"Thanks," I smiled gratefully. "Now, don't get me wrong, I love kids just as much as the next person, but sometimes you just feel like you're losing your mind. One time when I was sitting for the Papadakises, one of their kids ran out into the street and almost got creamed. And this was my first solo job, I might add! And of course, nothing tops having the shit scared out of you like an asthma attack."

If you were to ask me which sitting experience I wish I could forget (thanks, Kristy!), that would be at the very top of that list. Still, I couldn't help but laugh with Justin. And speaking of laughs, his was definitely not the low-pitched, rolling laugh I'd expect to hear from someone with such a deep voice. In fact, it sounded more like a hyena with its balls caught in a three-ring binder. Oh, well. At least it broke the ice.

"I hear you," Justin agreed. "I remember when one of the kids Erin sits for had to be dropped off at our house because his mum had to be rushed to the ER to have six stitches in her arm. Now, this kid was only three, mind you, and after an ordeal like that, I was absolutely conviced he'd be a total basket case. But he seemed pretty happy to see us, and all was going pretty smoothly until I found him sitting on the floor in me room and covering me rugby ball with finger-paint! And no, it still won't come off. I was a wee bit miffed at first, but then me team actually started winning games. I guess that little guy knew just the right way to help us get over our losing streak. As a matter of fact, our coach has a Polaroid of me with that ball, and on the bottom, he wrote--get this--_Justin and the Amazing Technicolor Rugby Ball: Coming soon to a game near you!"_

Upon hearing that story, I laughed so hard I had to take another puff from my inhaler. (Could I actually be allergic to laughter? Please, say it ain't so!)

"Oh, God, that was hilarious, Justin!" I giggled. "Man, you really made my day with that one!"

"Thanks," Justin smiled. And the instant he flashed me those Osmond-like pearly whites, I can honestly tell you that my legs turned to Jell-O. I've seen many a great smile in my time, but this one was worthy of a spot in _The Guiness Book of World Records._ That's how great it looked.

The next thing I knew, Justin's hand was in mine. I don't know if he was trying to keep me from falling, or if I was tired of beating around the bush while trying to tell him how I felt, or what the hell was going on here. But I do know this: I was falling for Justin. Hard.

"Abby?" he asked. "Abby, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Are you?"

_Stevenson, you idiot!_ I thought. _God, just let it out already!_

Well, I never got the chance to do so, because all of a sudden, Justin had pulled me right to him and planted a huge whopper of a kiss on my lips. I could tell he was no stranger to this sort of thing, but for me, it was my very first kiss. _Ever._ Now, I've been kissed on the lips before, mostly by family members (yick!), but _this_...this was totally different. I felt like I was floating through the clouds, and I could also taste the oatmeal-raisin cookie on his breath. My once-rubbery knees were now locked into place like a screen door hinge that hadn't been oiled in months. The feeling of my fingers sifting through Justin's hair made the nerves in my hands go haywire. In that moment, I knew exactly what Claud was talking about when she told me about how she and Jason kissed at intermission during opening night of our production of _Carnival._ All of it, all of it, all of it was as magical as she said her experience was.

When we finally separated, neither of us could say a word. All we could do was look into each other's eyes and try like hell to catch our breath. And I will wager you money that you could've heard my heart beating all the way back to Stoneybrook.

"Danny, is this the end?" I asked. (Now that I think about it, what I should've asked myself was, "Abby, isn't it pathetic that as many times as you've seen _Grease_, you still can't do an Australian accent to save your life?")

"I hope not, Abby," Justin answered softly. Then, he gently took my hand and we headed back inside. And if the kids wanted to tease us some more, I couldn't have cared less.


	14. Chapter 13: David Michael

**CHAPTER 13: David Michael**

_**W**_hile Justin and Abby were outside, I was having a little chat with Kristy. And when I say "chat", what that means is Kristy was doing most of the chatting. You see, she was giving me the lecture about how it's not nice to make fun of someone, especially if they like a certain person. And yes, I mean _like,_ like. Then she went into the "how would you feel if so-and-so did such-and-such to you" speech, which is something else I hate.

"I bet you'd feel just as embarrassed as Abby felt, wouldn't you?" Kristy was saying.

_Well, duh! _I thought. What a stupid question! But from the look on Kristy's face, I knew better than to say that out loud, so I just nodded.

"I thought so," Kristy said. "Okay, I'll let you off the hook this time, David Michael, but don't ever do something like this again. Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. "I didn't mean to make Abby feel bad. I was just kidding. We all were."

"I know that, but sometimes, even if you mean it as a joke, it can hurt people's feelings."

"Tell that to Charlie and Sam," I remarked. "Ever since that night at the Opera House, they've been on my case big-time."

"Oh, you mean with Toni?" Kristy asked. I nodded. "Well, I'm sure they were just kidding, too. Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I used to get teased a _lot_ when I started liking Bart. I don't even wanna go into the details of the crap I went through."

I smiled, remembering how Bart had to stay with us when Stoneybrook had that huge blizzard. I even remembered how I used to sing that _"Bart, Bart, bo-bart"_ song whenever he called Kristy. That's the one thing she'd made me promise not to tell anyone, which I haven't. See, even _I_ can keep a promise sometimes!

"Aaanywaay..." we both said at once. That's something we all say to get back to the original point of what we'd been discussing, and it always gets a good laugh. I think I remember Kristy telling me that our real dad used to do that before he left us.

"What I'm getting at here," Kristy went on, "is don't let that sort of thing get to you. They're just kidding."

"Okay, Kristy," I said. "And I promise I won't give Abby or anyone else a hard time anymore."

"Good," Kristy smiled. "Now, let's get back to the art show, huh?"

"Gotcha," I agreed, and we got up from our chairs.

On my way to get another cookie and cup of lemonade, I saw Abby and Justin come back inside. Even though I was pretty hungry (we Thomases are known for our big appetites), I decided that the cookie and lemonade could wait. Right now, apologizing to Abby was more important.

"Hi, Abby," I said sheepishly as I walked up to them. "Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. We all are."

"Aw, that's okay, kiddo," Abby grinned, giving me a Kristy arm-punch. "I know you were just kidding; don't worry about it."

"Thanks," I said. "You know, you guys really do make a nice couple." (Oh, my God, I think I'm turning into Stacey!)

"Thanks, little buddy," Justin said, ruffling my hair. "So do you and Sara's little sister."

"Thanks," I answered, and I'm not sure what shade of red my face was, but it sure felt hot. Oh, well. At least he wasn't razzing me like my brothers had been.

The art show ended later that evening, and both the BSC and Baby-sitters, Inc. were busy taking down the leftover artwork. One of them, sorry to say, was that _awesome _drawing of the Outback. I, for one, would've bought that one in a second, and I just couldn't imagine why nobody wanted it.

"Can you believe nobody wanted this picture?" I asked as I helped Abby and Kelly take it down.

"Yeah, really!" Byron agreed. "I thought for sure that my jawa picture would've gotten at least _someone_ to buy it."

"Well, maybe there's a reason why they didn't want it," Kelly said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, I'm sure people liked your jawa, Byron, but they probably didn't think it belonged in the Outback," Kelly explained. "Second, they felt that a lot of hard work must've gone into it, and they couldn't bring themselves to take it. Otherwise, you, James, and Claud would've felt really sad to see it go."

"Oh," Byron said. "I see your point, Kelly. So, what should we do with it?"

"I can talk to Watson and see if he wants it," I suggested. If I were him, there's no way I'd be able to say no to an offer like that.

"I have a better idea," Kelly said before I could run off to find him. "Byron, you and David Michael get the others and meet me over by that basketball hoop over there."

"Gotcha," I said, and Byron and I took off to round up all the Baby-sitters and the other kids. In a few minutes, we were all gathered around one of the tables that had been used for some of the artwork. Kelly was standing at the far end with a black felt-tip pen in her hand. The only ones who weren't there were Stacey and Chelsea. They were over by the front door seeing how much money we'd made.

"First of all, you guys have done an amazing job," Kelly began. "I'm sure we've taken in a lot of money, too. As for how much, exactly, well, we'll soon find out. But in the meantime, what do you say we all sign this work of art we've got here?"

As soon as Kelly said that, all of us younger kids were jumping up and down for a turn to add our autograph to the drawing. Of course, both baby-sitting clubs went first. (As Karen would say to that, "Boo and bullfrogs.")

After the last of Baby-sitters, Inc. (Sara, I think) signed it, Kelly took the pen and turned to us kids. "Okay, it's your all's turn," she said. "Everybody line up." We did, and I just happened to be in the front. And guess who was behind me? I'll give you a hint: we sat together at the Opera House.

I signed the drawing and handed the pen to Toni. "Here," I said. When she took it, I noticed that not only were her fingers running across my hand, but on her index finger was a mood ring, and it was a very dark greenish-blue. Sam once told me that this color meant you were in love. But it wasn't just the ring. It was the way Toni was looking at me. If you'd seen her face, you would've thought that she was getting the pen from Freddie Prinze, Jr.

"Thanks, David," Toni smiled. Then she noticed me looking at her ring. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, that's really pretty," I answered. But in my book, it was nowhere near as pretty as she was. "Where'd you get it?"

"One of me friends from the orphanage gave it to me for Christmas last year," Toni said. "Well, we're probably holding up the line, so I think I'll sign the drawing now."

"Okay," I said, and I moved aside. As luck would have it, I ran right into my brothers, who had the world's absolute biggest Cheshire-cat grins on their faces. That could only mean one thing.

_Oh, please, God, no, _I thought in dread. But they went right ahead.

"Hey, lover-boy!" Sam called. "How's it goin'?" If you've ever wondered if what they say about girls maturing faster than boys is true, just look at Sam.

"Oh, pretty good," I answered, trying to take Kristy's advice and not let it get to me. Then, just when I thought it was over, Charlie pulled up a chair and sat down right in front of me.

"So, what did you do? Did you go out to dinner, did you go dancing? What happened?" he asked, and the whole time, he was very clearly showing off the gold watch Mom and Watson had given him for his 18th birthday, as if it were a Rolex, which it wasn't. I know a Rolex when I see one, because Watson has one. And no, he would never in a million years be that vain about it.

I know I should've been wanting to vanish into thin air, but I just couldn't help laughing. "Charlie!" I cried.

"Well, our little Casanova seems a bit preoccupied," Charlie said to no one in particular, "so we'll be back in two an' two!" And on "two an' two", he did that hand motion that the guy who hosted _Love Connection_--Chuck somebody-or-other--always did, which made me laugh even harder.

"All right, that's enough, you guys," I said as soon as I was able to get ahold of myself. "I'm almost eight years old, you know! I'm not _that_ serious about her!"

"Yeah, right!" Sam grinned, giving me a noogie. In the middle of our laughter, I happened to see Mom coming up to us.

"Well, time to go, kids," she told us.

"Okay, Mom," I said. "I'll go get Kristy." And I went off to find her, grateful as could be to get away from my brothers. I soon found her standing by the front door with Kelly, Stacey and Chelsea.

"Are you _sure_ you added it right?" I heard Kristy ask them.

"I am a hundred percent positive," Stacey answered impatiently. "Chelsea and I went over each and every figure three times, and each and every time, we still came up short. I'm telling you, Kristy, we should have a lot more than what we've got here."

"We don't have the slightest idea where we went wrong with this," Chelsea added. I could tell she wasn't very happy, mostly from the way she was going at that calculator-watch of hers. She was punching the keys so quickly, I'm surprised it didn't burst into flames!

"Hmm," Kelly said. "That _is_ pretty strange. Well, hopefully, this should cover it for now."

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked.

"Apparently, we didn't make quite as much money as we thought we did," a thoroughly puzzled Kristy told me.

"But we still made a lot, right?" I guessed.

"Yeah, we made a lot, just not as much as we thought," Stacey said. She showed me the total amount, which was--get this--_$10,750!_ I'll tell you, my jaw almost hit the center of the earth, I was so surprised.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "Hey, Kristy, isn't that how much you guys made when you were baby-sitting all of us before Mom and Watson got married?"

"Yeah, I believe so," Kristy answered as she took a look at it. Then, turning to Kelly and Chelsea, she said, "Well, we better get going. We still made a good amount of money, though."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chelsea said. "At least it'll help keep the orphanage open."

"Yup," Kristy agreed. After saying goodnight to them, Kristy and I headed outside with the others.

On the way back to the hotel, I thought of Toni. I knew two things: one, she was glad that we were helping the orphanage, and two, I really liked her. Ever since that night at the Opera House, the two of us have grown really fond of each other. I didn't even mind Sam and Charlie giving me a hard time anymore.

All I knew was, everything was going to be all right.


	15. Chapter 14: Stacey

**CHAPTER 14: Stacey**

_**I**_t was well after 10:30 when we got back to the hotel. Even though we should've been exhausted from the events of the day, there was no way any of us could've even thought about going to bed. For one thing, we were all wracking our brains trying to figure out how the hell we could've possibly miscalculated how much money we'd taken in from selling all that artwork.

The four of us--Kristy, Claud, Mary Anne, and I--were sitting around our hotel room on the two full-size beds talking about it. "This just doesn't make any sense, you guys," I said, taking a drink of my V8 juice. The other three had diet sodas, which I ordinarily can drink, but after being around all that lemonade and all those oatmeal-raisin cookies, I decided to have something a little more healthy to drink.

"No, it doesn't," Claud agreed. "Granted, I'm possibly the world's worst student, but you're right, Stace; we should have a lot more money than this."

"Okay," Kristy said in that let's-think-about-this voice she's known for. After all, well, she's _Kristy._ "We have a copy of the list of what was sold and for how much, right? So what we're gonna do here is go over the entire list step-by-step. Stacey, we'll need your calculator for this."

"Right," I said. I unzipped my carry-on bag and took out my calculator. It's one of those battery-operated desk calculators, like the kind Dad uses at his office back in New York, only it's hot pink with my name stenciled on the top in navy-blue. Dad got it for me sometime before the SMS graduation.

"You have the list, Mary Anne?" Claud asked. Mary Anne nodded and put it on the night table next to the lamp. The four of us gathered around it as I stuck two D-batteries into the calculator and turned it on.

"Okay, the first painting was sold for $100," Kristy began as I punched the keys. We went over each and every figure with a fine-tooth comb, even double-checking more than a few of the amounts (okay, we double-checked them all). The only artwork we were a hundred percent positive about was what Johnny and Claire had sold, because their work was only 50 cents apiece, so there was no need to double-check those, but we did anyway, just in case.

After we finished going over the list, we compared that total to how much money we'd actually made. And once again, we came up with the same amount that Chelsea and I had when we counted up all the money. All four of us were just filled with disbelief and frustration.

"I don't believe this!" Kristy exclaimed. "According to the list, we've made $12,000 even. How can there possibly be so much money still unaccounted for?"

"I have no idea," Claud answered as she took a thing of Necco wafers out of her suitcase. Then, as if trying to add humor to the situation, she quickly hid the candy underneath her T-shirt, snuck over to the door, and peeked out through the keyhole to see if anyone was coming. "All clear," she whispered. She was acting like we were in her room at a BSC meeting, and therefore, had to hide the munchies. I don't know why, but junk food and Mr. and Mrs. Kishi are like oil and water.

Well, Claud's little performance worked, because in no time flat, we were all screaming with laughter. I'm surprised neither of Kristy's parents banged on the door to tell us to shut up!

After we calmed down, Kristy immediately went back into BSC-president mode and said, "But seriously, though, there's no way we could've possibly miscounted."

Right then and there, something dawned on me. "Hey, do any of you remember what Sara said at the last Baby-sitters, Inc. meeting?" I asked.

"Yeah," Mary Anne remembered. "She said she thought that the owner of the orphanage had something to do with its money problems."

"That's right," Kristy said. "And does anybody remember seeing--wait, what's his name?"

"Mr. Gordon, I think," Claud answered.

"Does anybody remember seeing Mr. Gordon at the art show?" Kristy asked us. "Because I sure as hell don't, for one."

Come to think of it, none of us did. That made even less sense than why we were over $1200 short, because if this art show was for the orphanage, then doesn't it seem logical that he, of all people, _would_ be there?

The four of us sat there in confused silence, just pondering the whole situation. After a minute or so, Kristy stood up and announced the very thing that was on all our minds: "You guys, we've got a mystery on our hands."

We all agreed with Kristy completely. The only question now was, how were we going to solve it? (Actually, I stand corrected; that wasn't the _only_ question. The other one was, where was our mystery notebook when we needed it?)

"I'll tell you what," Claud spoke up. "What do you say we sleep on it, and talk some more about it tomorrow?"

"Good idea," I yawned. "Okay, here's the plan: tomorrow morning over breakfast, we let Abby, Jessi, and Mal in on this, because they're BSC members, too, and they'll definitely want to know what's going on. Furthermore, we'll want to get ahold of Kelly and the other Baby-sitters, Inc. members, because they were also at the art show, and Sara lives at the orphanage. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Absolutely," Kristy agreed. If you ask me, I think she was hiding the fact that she has a hard time dealing with other club members besides her coming up with ideas, but under the circumstances, she was willing to make an exception. "This meeting is adjourned. Now, let's get some sleep. Oh, and I call the bathroom!" And she jumped off the bed and was in the bathroom faster than you can say "Baby Beluga", which, by the way, Gabbie Perkins is completely obsessed with. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Perkins girls, but I'd rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my toothbrush than listen to that damn song one more time!

During the night, I was the only one who was still awake. Kristy and Mary Anne were sound asleep, as was Claud. Well, sort of.

"Mmm--Jason," she murmured.

If I wasn't so worried about the orphanage, I can assure you that I would've been dreaming of Sam. As for what would've been going on--nice try. I'll keep _that_ to myself, thank you!


	16. Chapter 15: Claudia

**CHAPTER 15: Claudia**

_**T**_he seven of us sat together over breakfast the next morning, listening to Kristy describe last night's meeting so we could bring Mal, Jessi, and Abby up to speed on what we'd just found out. Every so often, one of them would interrupt one of us with a question, but for the rest of the time, we just listened in baffled silence. We also made sure to include the fact that Sara had suspected Mr. Gordon, the owner of the orphanage, of stealing the money from the art sale. And you know what? It kind of surprises me that we didn't scratch a hole right through our heads, now that I think about it.

"Boy, this is serious," Mal commented as she took in a spoonful of Frosted Flakes. "I never thought we'd overlook something like this."

"Yeah," Abby said. "As Dawn would say, it's definitely a mystery." We all nodded in agreement.

"Well, we were talking last night," Kristy told us, "and we think we need to tell Baby-sitters, Inc. After all, they were at the art show, too, and there's no question that they have every right to know."

"I'll call Sara," I volunteered. "We should meet with them as soon as possible."

"Good idea," Kristy said. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Claud."

"Well, I guess being an Idea Machine's rubbed off on all of us, Kristy," Jessi pointed out, and despite what we were facing, we had to laugh.

Later that morning, both clubs gathered at the Baby-sitters, Inc. headquarters. All the younger kids were inside the mansion playing together, so we didn't have to worry about keeping an eye on them. The only thing we did have to worry about was the situation we were in, and how we were going to fix it, if we could.

"This meeting is now in session," Kelly announced from the head of the table. And yes, she had on that leather baseball cap of hers. "First of all, Kristy has something she wants to tell everybody." She then nodded to Kristy and took her seat.

"Thanks, Kelly," Kristy said as she stood up and faced the rest of us. "Well, I've got good news and bad news: the good news is, the art show was a complete success. We raised well over $10,000." As soon as Kristy said those words, some of us started applauding and high-fiving. The rest of us either grinned or stared at Kristy in total surprise.

"The bad news," Kristy went on, "is that after repeatedly going over and over the list of what was sold and for how much, there's over $1200 still unaccounted for." This was met by a chorus of disappointed groans. "Furthermore, some of BSC members--namely Claud, Stacey, Mary Anne, and myself--noticed that Mr. Gordon, the owner, wasn't even at the art show."

"What a f----- surprise," Sara grumbled under her breath.

"Did you say something, Sara?" Kristy asked. Obviously, she'd heard her.

"I've been telling you all along that he's the one who stole the money," Sara answered angrily. She had that exact same look in her eyes that Kristy gets whenever somebody says something really rotten to her about her family or the BSC. I still remember that one time at school when Cokie Mason called one of Kristy's younger siblings--I forget who--a spoiled, whiny brat, and said it right in Kristy's face. It took both Abby and me to stop her from knocking that pompous little bitch's teeth down her throat.

"Now hold on a minute," Kelly interjected. "Let's not jump the gun here. We don't know that. And we certainly can't accuse him of something like this without any proof. And I don't even want to go into what could happen if it turns out he had nothing to do with this at all."

"Yeah, that's true," I agreed. I don't know why, but this discussion reminded me of when we sat for the Lowells. You see, it turned out that Mrs. Lowell was racist with a capital R. She didn't like Jessi or me, because of our skin color, or Logan because she doesn't believe in male sitters, or Kristy after finding out about her adopted sister Emily, who happens to be from Vietnam. But the reason why it made me think of that was because, like Kelly had just said, we couldn't prove anything, just like we couldn't prove that Mrs. Lowell was the way she was. At that meeting, all those old feelings started to come back.

"So what do we do now?" Mary Anne asked.

"I say we go to the cops," Beth suggested. "They might have some ideas."

"Why don't we talk to our parents first?" Kristy added. "They could definitely tell us what we should do."

"Good idea," Chelsea spoke up. "The sooner we get this taken care of, the better."

"Absolutely," Mal agreed. "I say we talk to our parents right away."

"All in favor?" Kristy asked, and you better believe everybody's hand shot up. With that, Kelly adjourned the meeting. Now that we'd figured out just exactly what we were up against, and also what to do about it, all we had to do was go through with it.

That afternoon after lunch, the seven of us were in the room I was sharing with Kristy, Stacey, and Mary Anne and getting ready to watch Jessi's copy of _The Princess Bride_, which, by the way, happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. I'd just popped it into the VCR when there was a knock on the inside door. Immediately, I searched the room for forbidden munchies, and I'm glad to say that I'd only found a bag of Reese's Pieces. "Could you answer that, Kristy?" I asked as I quickly stuffed it under the bed.

When Kristy opened the door, there stood Watson, and he had a pretty serious expression on his face. "Hi, Watson," Kristy said. "C'mon in."

"Hi, girls," he answered as he entered the room. "I need to talk to you a minute." And he sat down in one of the chairs.

"So, what's up?" I asked. I wasn't at all sure whether or not I was going to like what he had to say. I don't think any of us were.

Watson took a deep breath and looked us square in the eye. "Well," he began, "I've been thinking a lot about what you've told us. We all have. We also had a chance to go over the figures from the art sale ourselves, and we're sorry to say that we've discovered that some of the money was, in fact, stolen."

As soon as those words came out of Watson's mouth, none of us were the least bit surprised, to be perfectly honest with you. "I knew it," Stacey whispered in disgust, shaking her head and looking at the floor. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Anyway," Watson continued, "Elizabeth and I discussed this with the Pikes and the Hobarts, and we all agreed that the authorities should be contacted immediately."

"Thanks," Kristy said. "By the way, Watson, we have an idea as to who might be behind this. At this one Baby-sitters, Inc. meeting, Sara told us that Mr. Gordon--you know, the guy who owns the orphanage--could be a suspect. We weren't too sure at first, but that was until we noticed that he wasn't at the art show, so we think he's responsible."

Watson nodded. "I see," he finally said. "Well, you girls did the right thing by coming to us. Right now, I'm going to let the police know, and we'll see where we go from there."

"Thanks, Watson," Mary Anne said.

"No, problem. Well, I'll see you at dinner." After he left the room, Mal pressed the play button, fast-forwarded through all those damn previews, and the movie soon began.

We were all getting into the movie big-time, enough to help us get our minds off of what we were dealing with, and just when it got to the point where Westley was rolling down the hill and going _"Aaas yooou wiiiish!"_, the phone rang. After pausing the movie, I pressed the speakerphone button and, just for fun, said, "Baby-sitters Club."

Amidst the laughter, I could hear the desk clerk's voice saying, "Um, I have a phone call for a Mary Anne Spier from a Dawn Schafer."

"All _right!"_ Mary Anne exclaimed. "I haven't heard from her in a while. Go ahead and put her on, please...Hey, Dawn! How are you?"

Unfortunately, the only answer we got was a deep sniffle and some loud sobbing. This didn't sound good. "Dawn?" Stacey asked, her voice filled with concern. "Dawn, what is it, honey?"

The next thing that came out of that phone convinced every one of us that this was bad news. I mean _really_ bad.

"It's Pop-pop," Dawn managed to say. She was crying so much she could hardly even get the words out. "He has Alzheimer's."


	17. Chapter 16: Mary Anne

**CHAPTER 16: Mary Anne**

_**I **_was on my way back to Stoneybrook, and a million thoughts were going through my head. One of them was how nice Watson was to pay for my ticket back home. Of course, I'd thanked him and promised to pay him back. But the one thing that was gnawing at me more than anything else was that horrible phone call we'd just gotten from Dawn less than 24 hours ago. I just couldn't believe that someone as wonderful as Dawn's beloved grandfather, or as she and Jeff call him, Pop-pop, could have something as horrible as Alzheimer's disease. I knew Dawn was devastated, but one could only imagine how awful it must feel for the rest of her family.

Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disease that effects mostly the elderly, although it's also been known to strike people as young as 45 or 50. It usually starts off with forgetting little things, like doing the dishes, turning off the TV, taking out the trash, stuff like that, but soon, little by little, it goes from that to not recognizing people you've known forever or not knowing what you're doing or saying, or even where you are. Eventually, you no longer know how to feed, wash or dress yourself and need round-the-clock care, then you forget how to breathe, which, in the end, kills you. I still remember that one day at school when we saw a documentary about it in health class, and how silent the room was when it was over. If there's one thing I know for a fact, it's that I agreed completely with what everyone else was thinking, which was, _I don't want that to be me._

I was so wrapped up in that phone call that I barely noticed the flight attendants starting to serve lunch, which consisted of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots, and milk, but I really didn't have one ounce of an appetite. To tell you the truth, up until lunch, I spent the entire flight going back and forth from staring into space and crying my eyes out. Finally, realizing that I had to keep myself together for Dawn's sake, I forced down as much of the meal as I could. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good for airline food, almost enough to help me get my mind off of Dawn's news.

Almost.

It was already sunset when we landed in Stamford. I thought it was going to take forever for the plane to actually come to a stop, but what difference did it make? In less than ten minutes, I'd be facing Dawn, Jeff, our parents and the sad reality of one our grandparents slowly deteriorating, both in body and in mind. I didn't even bother trying to get out of my seat. That's how torn up I was inside.

"Are you all right?" a voice asked. I turned, and standing right in front of me was a little black-haired boy with sympathetic brown eyes and a New York Giants T-shirt. He couldn't have been more than five or six years old, and here he was, a total stranger, asking me if I was all right.

"I'm okay," I lied, very quickly wiping my eyes. On the one hand, I didn't care that I wasn't telling the truth; I just wanted to be left alone. But at the same time, part of me was really grateful to this kid thinking of me. And considering my family's situation, that really meant a lot to me.

Just then, the little boy's father, I assumed, came up behind him and gently began ushering him toward the door. Knowing that I couldn't stay here any longer, I got up, grabbed my carry-on and made my way off the plane.

I was in such a haze, I almost bumped into one of the ticket-takers when I stepped out into the terminal. Part of it was due to jet-lag, but most of it was from what I'd soon have to deal with. Luckily, this nice lady, whoever she was, didn't seem that annoyed. She probably got bumped into a lot. I'm just glad I didn't walk into the first-class cabin or the cockpit. It really did seem as if I was on auto-pilot, no pun intended.

"Mary Anne!" I heard Dad's voice call, and I must've jumped a mile. I looked, and there he was, holding his arms out to me. Tears filled my eyes as I ran to him and hugged him. I felt like I was four years old again.

"Daddy," I whispered, struggling to keep my emotions in check. Dad held me and talked to me in a low, soothing voice. And no, I don't remember what he'd said to me.

"How was your flight, honey?" Dad asked me a minute or so later.

"Fine," I said, a little calmer than before, but not much. "Listen, are Dawn and the others with you?"

"Yes," Dad answered. "They're waiting in the baggage claim. And Dawn wanted me to tell you how much she appreciates you being here, and also that she's sorry for making you cut your vacation short. We all are."

"That's okay," I murmured. And it was, too. I mean, what right did I have to be upset with Dawn, especially now? She'd just been hit with perhaps the worst news of her life, and besides, she _needed_ me. So therefore, the last thing I was allowed to feel, if I even could, was anger toward Dawn, because there was no possible way she or anyone else could've known this was going to happen.

When Dad and I reached the baggage claim, there, by the carousel, were Dawn, Jeff, and Sharon. The first thing Dawn did when she saw me was run up and throw her arms around me, sobbing uncontrollably. "Mary _Anne!"_ she wailed. That was all it took to get me started. We were both just a crying, sniffling mess. I hadn't cried this much since the day I found out that Amelia Freeman had been killed by a drunk driver.

"I'm so sorry, Dawn," I choked as I held my stepsister. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jeff sitting on the bench with his head in his hands and Sharon patting his shoulder. They both had tears in their eyes. After seeing them, I just wanted to make all their pain go away. Dad must've been thinking the same thing I was, because he went over to them and wrapped them both in a hug.

By this point, my suitcase was coming into view, and just before I could point it out, Sharon, who's known for being the most absent-minded person alive, saw it and picked it up. "Thanks," I managed to say as she handed it to me.

"No problem, hon," she said, hugging me. With that, the five of us walked out of the airport together.

Less than an hour later, we arrived at Stoneybrook Manor. "Hi. We're here to see Charles Porter," Sharon told the receptionist.

"Sure," she said warmly. "Second floor, third door on your right."

"Thanks," Sharon answered, and we headed for the elevator. On the way, we passed by Karen Brewer's adopted grandmother, Esther Barnard, or as Karen calls her, Grandma B. She waved to us, then disappeared into the bingo hall.

When we got to the second floor, we heard a very professional, no-nonsense voice coming from down the hall. "Well, I was just looking over your assets," the voice said. That had to be Pop-pop, because Dawn told me that he'd worked for People's Bank here in Stoneybrook for well over 40 years. And here he was, thinking that that was exactly where he was. I'll tell you this right now: the mere fact that he was totally oblivious to how much his health was going to decline absolutely tore my heart out.

Dawn knocked on the door to his room, which was opened by Granny. She looked glad to see us, but Dawn, Jeff, and I could see quite clearly that she'd been crying. "Hi, kids," she said. "Come on in."

The five of us entered the room and found Pop-pop sitting in one of those ugly '70s Naugahyde burnt-orange armchairs. He was holding a clipboard with some office papers on it and talking to the ceiling. "Well, I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Hudson, but I'm afraid a loan is just out of the question," he was saying. That sweet, kind old man was so out of it, he hadn't even heard us come in.

"Hi, Pop-pop," Jeff said, as cheerfully as he could manage. Somehow, Jeff's voice worked, because in no time flat, Pop-pop looked right at him, as if he'd just woken up from a long nap.

"Hiya, Goalie!" he exclaimed. The way he was smiling, it hardly looked like anything was wrong. "How are you?"

"Oh, fine," Jeff answered as he and dawn approached him for a hug and a kiss.

"Hi," Dawn whispered, calmer than she was when she'd called the rest of us in Sydney. They were putting on brave faces, as was Sharon, but I knew that inside, they were in pieces.

"Hi, Beach Baby," Pop-pop smiled. (By the way, I don't mean to get off the subject here, but "Goalie" and "Beach Baby" are his special nicknames for them: Jeff, because he loves hockey, and Dawn, because she's always loved the beach.)

"Hi, Dad," Sharon said as she embraced him. Dad and Granny joined them around the coffee table, and the three of us sat on the bed. "How've you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing all right for the most part," he admitted, "except for when I think I have to turn down someone for a loan. That's the one thing I never liked about my job."

"I hear you," Dad agreed. "I feel the same way when I lose a court case."

Pop-pop nodded. "Well, that's life, I guess," he sighed.

Boy, was he right on the money about that. And after seeing him like this, even though he seemed pretty lucid and alert when he saw us, we all knew that the worst was yet to come.

We got home at around 8:45. Dawn and Jeff were both pretty wiped out, so they went straight to bed. I probably should've gone to bed, too, but I just couldn't imagine being able to get any sleep. I decided I needed to take a walk, just to clear my head. After dumping my clothes into the laundry, I asked Dad and Sharon if it was all right.

"Sure, sweetie," Dad answered gently. "I know you must be having a hard time with this whole thing."

"Thanks. I won't be gone long."

I trudged out the door and walked through the dark, quiet streets of Stoneybrook, and my mind began to wander. I thought of my childhood, back in the old days when Kristy, Claud, and I all lived on Bradford Court together, how we'd started the Baby-sitters Club and the experiences we'd had, the day Dawn came into my life, how I'd finally been able to convince Dad that I wasn't his baby girl anymore, and the day he married Sharon. In my wildest dreams, I never thought so much would've happened to me in such a short amount of time, nor did I even expect something so sad to bring us back together.

I then happened to find myself outside the Rosebud Cafe. I was feeling kind of thirsty, so I went inside and ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie. While I was waiting, I heard the door to the men's room open, and out came Logan. I assumed he was on his break, because when he saw me sitting by myself in the booth, his eyes lit up and that beautiful grin of his was on his face in a second.

"Hi, Mary Anne!" he said happily as he came over and sat down beside me. "How were things Down Under?" (Oh, boy, I think I made him watch _Grease_ too many times!)

"Oh, pretty good," I answered, playing with my napkin. "But, uh--I had to come back here."

"Is something wrong?"

Blinking back tears, I nodded. "Dawn's grandpa has Alzheimer's," I told him.

"Oh, my God," Logan murmured.

"We saw him just this afternoon," I went on, "and he didn't even know we were there at first. And then he was back to his old self. I don't even think he's fully aware of what's happening to him."

"Oh, Mary Anne, that's terrible," Logan said as he scooted closer and put his arm around me. "How's Dawn and Jeff taking it?"

"I don't know," I answered, my voice breaking. "When Dawn called us in Australia, she could hardly speak, she was crying so much. And I'm really worried about Jeff. I don't know if he understands what's going on here."

"I think I know how Jeff feels," Logan said tenderly. "When I was in first grade, my mom told me that her aunt--Aunt Hazel, I think--had Alzheimer's, and when I first saw her, she was sitting in her wheelchair just moaning and staring into space. Never even knew we were there. Man, I don't even remember how many questions I asked Mom about what it meant. I bet I damn near drove her nuts askin' her."

Normally, I'm really turned off by people swearing, but with what I'd been through, I was willing to let it go. All I could do was sob into Logan's shoulder and let him hold me. And just like Dawn needed me to be there for her, I really needed Logan to help me through such a difficult time. It wasn't going to make things get any better, obviously, but in my mind, at least it could help keep me from losing my head.


	18. Chapter 17: Jessi

**CHAPTER 17: Jessi**

_**N**_o sooner had Mary Anne left for the airport did the rest of us continue to talk about what we'd just found out. We'd all suspected that some of the money we'd raised for the art show had, in fact, been stolen, but hearing it from Watson was like hearing from the dentist that you had thirteen cavities and there was a huge shortage of Novocain (not that I've ever had an experience like that, of course, or even a cavity, for that matter).

"I can't believe this," Stacey said angrily. "How could anyone do such a thing?" I'd rarely seen Stacey that upset. The last time she was like that was that one _Carnival _rehearsal when three of our castmates were screwing around backstage while she was going over "Humming". She'd actually thrown her script down, used some pretty questionable language, as Daddy would've put it, and stormed offstage. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Stacey, but if I were Mr. Cheney, I would've washed her mouth out with soap. And in front of the whole cast, too.

Apparently, Kristy noticed Stacey's mood, because the first thing she did was sit in front of her, put her hands on her shoulders, and look her dead in the eye. "Stacey," she said firmly, as if she were talking to Karen. "It's all right. We're going to get to the bottom of this, all of us, together. Watson is going to the cops right now. Even if we don't have the answer, they might. Okay?"

"Okay," Stacey mumbled.

At that moment, the phone rang. Since I was closest to it, I pressed the speakerphone button. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, it's Kelly. Listen, I'm calling a special meeting of Baby-sitters, Inc. Could you guys come?"

"Sure," Kristy answered. "Oh, I just wanted to let you know that Mary Anne had to leave early, something about her grandfather."

"That's all right," Kelly said. "I'm sure she'll want to hear this sooner or later."

"What's up?" Mal asked.

"Just get over here, and I'll let you know what's going on."

"Okay," Claud said. "'Bye."

I wondered what Kelly was about to tell us.

When we arrived at Baby-sitters, Inc. headquarters, the only ones there so far were Kelly, Sara, Joan, and Lori. The kids all went into the side yard. I saw the triplets, Nicky, David Michael, James, Matthew, Johnny, and surprisingly, Toni, start a game of baseball.

"Wow," I murmured.

Sara must have heard me, because she said, "I know. Toni's usually so unathletic, although she does enjoy kickball. I guess she thinks it's easier to play since you don't need a bat."

At that moment, Erin and Chelsea arrived, followed closely by Beth and Zoe. We took our places around the room, and Kelly began the meeting.

"First off, thanks for coming on such short notice," she told us. "We have quite a bit of ground to cover today."

""What's up?" Mal asked.

"Well," Kelly began, "I just wanted to let you know that me family is going to have a yard sale tomorrow."

"That's nice," Stacey said. I also remembered when Stacey told me about the yard sale that her family had before they moved back to New York.

"That's not all," Kelly continued. "I also suggested to me parents that we could donate the yard sale profits to the orphanage."

"That's great," Sara said. "I'm sure they'll appreciate every penny they could get."

"Hey, it's the least I could do to make up for the money that was possibly stolen."

"It's not your fault, Kelly," Kristy told her. "After all, we went over the figures until we were blue in the face, and we still came up with the same amount."

"Exactly," Stacey added. "And besides, Kristy's parents, the Pikes, and the Hobarts have already gone to the authorities, and I'll bet you that they've sorted the whole thing out."

"Yeah, that's true," Kelly said.

"So, got any other ideas?" Abby asked.

"Well, Sara does, actually," Kelly answered. "Sara?"

Just when she stood up, the phone rang. All of us looked at each other in surprise and curiosity. We weren't holding an official meeting, so who could be calling?

"Anybody going to answer that?" Beth wanted to know, and Joan reached over and pressed the button.

"G'day, Baby-sitters, Inc.," she answered. As it turned out, it was a job call. After checking the schedule and giving the job to Zoe, we turned our attention back to Sara.

"Thanks, Kelly," she said. "I was remembering when me school had a talent show last fall. Me and some of my friends did 'Hard-Knock Life' from _Annie."_

"Really?" Stacey asked. I could tell that she was really impressed. She once told me that her father had taken her to see her first Broadway play, which, coincidentally, was _Annie._

"Great idea," Claudia said. "We'll talk to the kids and see if they want to participate."

We were all agreeing that this was a good idea, when all of a sudden, from outside, we heard one of the kids shout, _"Ste-riiiiiike THREEEEEE!"_ And it was so frickin' loud, I'm surprised we didn't hit our heads on the ceiling when we jumped. Abby was closest to the window, so she looked outside, and then started laughing her head off. "What? What is it?" Mal asked.

"Just look!" Abby howled.

We did. Mathew was doing some crazy victory dance, moonwalking, waving his arms around, and doing jazz-splits, just like Leslie Nielsen's character in _The Naked Gun._ It was hilarious! (I'm gonna buy that movie the second I get home!)

"Well, we've got work to do, so this meeting is adjourned," Kelly finally said, once we were able to calm down. I don't know why, but I almost expected her to stand up and bang a gavel. I also imagine that Kristy sometimes feels she needs one at our BSC meetings.

On our way out of the garden house, I noticed Joan looking underneath the table and her chair. "Lose something?" I asked. Joan got up off the floor, dusting her knees.

"Yeah," she answered. "Me newest coin for me collection. It was the first American quarter that came out after World War II ended."

"Wow. Really?"

"Yeah. I thought I had it in me pocket after our last meeting, but when I got home, it wasn't there."

"Well, let's start looking," I said. We pushed back all the chairs and looked under the table. "I didn't know you collected coins."

"Yup," Joan said. "Ever since I was in second grade. I still remember me first one: me granddad went on a trip to London and gave me a genuine 19th-century English shilling."

"Cool!" I marvelled. "That's how it started, huh?"

"Uh-huh. I have almost 300. We all collect something in me family. Both me parents are stamp-collectors, ten of which have Charlie Brown characters on them."

I'm sure Joan's stamp story was pretty believeable, but I didn't hear all of it, because something shiny and silver caught my eye. "Is this it?" I asked, picking it up and handing it to her.

"Yeah, that's the one!" Joan exclaimed. "Thanks!" As we got up, that's when I noticed something a little unusual: Joan was holding my hand. At first, I thought she was just helping me up, but then I saw not only how tightly she was holding it, but also the way she was looking at me. I knew that look right off the bat, because I used to look at Quint that way. As for how I was feeling at that moment, surprised would be an understatement.

"Uh, Joan?" I managed to ask.

"Yes?" Joan said, in the sweetest voice I'd ever heard. Now, I know it's not nice to judge a book by its cover, but after hearing that, I yanked my hand away.

_What the hell do you think you're doing, girl? _my mind screamed.

For a few seconds, the two of us stared at each other in awkward silence.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jessi," Joan blurted out. She was trying to maintain her composure, but I could tell she was blushing. "I, uh--I'm not your type, am I?"

Oh, my, God. This girl is actually _attracted _to me. I don't know how fast my heart was beating, but it sure felt ready to explode. "Um-- Joan--" I stammered. The inside of my mouth and the back of my throat felt as dry as the Mojave. "I, uh--I'm straight."

As soon as those words came out of my mouth, Joan looked at me as if I had snakes growing out of my head. "Are you sure?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah," I told her. "I'm sorry, but I like guys. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, you're a nice girl and everything, but I just don't do things like that."

From the way Joan reacted, you would've thought that I'd told her I was moving to Alaska (I know, I've read _Ramona Forever _too many times, right?).

"All right," she said at last. "And I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It's just that I realized this only a few months ago, and I don't know why, but I just assumed that you were, too. You know, most people either avoid me or call me really awful names when I tell them that I'm a lesbian. And me family's still having a hard time dealing with it. Me dad's finally accepted it, but me mum can barely look at me or talk or to me without going on and on about how afraid she is that I'll be a hate crime victim. Remember Matthew Shepard?"

"That college guy in Wyoming who was murdered because he was gay?"

"Yeah," Joan answered. I could see the tears forming in her eyes by then. "It still makes me sick that he went through that, and I don't want that to happen to me."

"I know what you mean," I said. "I still put up with a lot of people's bullshit because of my skin color. I wish this sort of thing didn't happen anymore, but it still does. I'm just glad I'm being accepted more these days."

"I am, too," Joan agreed. "And thank God I've still got Baby-sitters, Inc., and me other friends for support."

"You'll be all right, Joan," I said reassuringly.

"You, too." And a hint of a smile spread across her face. "Well, I'll see you at the yard sale tomorrow."

"See you," I said as I walked out of the garden house, with Joan right behind me. We walked side-by-side up the walk, arm-in-arm. When we got to the end of the walkway, we released arms. Joan headed toward her house, and I headed toward the Brewers' van.

I don't know why, but I felt a little better after getting that off my chest. I'm sure Joan did, too.


	19. Chapter 18: Ben

**CHAPTER 18: Ben**

_**A**_fter the meeting broke up, Mal came into the house. "Hey, Ben? Can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Sure," I answered as I poured myself a glass of iced tea. "Want some?"

"Sure," she said. I poured a second glass and handed it to her. "Can we sit down?"

The two of us sat at the kitchen table, and Mal looked over her shoulder to see if any of our siblings were watching us. It's a habit she'd gotten into some time ago, and I think it started when we first started sitting for all of them together. "What's up?" I asked.

"Well," she began, "you've heard about the money issue, right?"

"You mean, the money from the art show?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah," I told her.

"And the fact that some of it might have been stolen?"

"Yeah, I heard about it from Kelly," I told her. "I heard her telling Aunt Ann and Uncle Mike, and they went to the authorities, along with Mum and Dad."

At that moment, Kelly came in. "Hey, Mal," she said. "We've invited your family to stay for dinner. Is that all right?"

"Sure," Mal answered. She sounded like she was on top of the world.

The two of us took our iced tea into the living room, and I put me copy of _Coming to America _in the DVD player. "Thanks for inviting us, Ben," Mal said as she snuggled up on me shoulder.

"Anytime," I smiled, putting me arm around her. We gently tapped our glasses together as the movie was getting started. (Oh, by the way, I don't mean to get off the subject here, but _Coming to America_ is one of me favorite movies. Mum and Dad don't mind it as long as me brothers aren't around, mostly because it has a fairly good amount of swearing in it.)

At the "Good morning, my neighbors!" part (which I think is the funniest scene in the entire movie, as well as Eddie Murphy's rendition of "The Greatest Love of All"), I heard Aunt Ann's voice saying, "Kids! Dinner's ready!"

"Coming!" I called as I turned off the DVD player. And no sooner did Mal and I come into the dining room did all of our siblings start making kissing noises. Well, not all of them, exactly. Margo was looking at Mathew with a dreamy expression on her face. (If you ask me, I think that girl's been around Karen way too much!) Mathew happened to notice, and turned to me in a total panic.

"Sorry, you're on your own now, little buddy!" I laughed, patting his arm. And as luck would have it, that's when Margo started to lean in to kiss him. Well, before she actually started leaning, she rubbed her thumb and finger around her lips, as if she was putting on lipstick. Then she started in for the kiss.

"Don't even think about it," Mathew said firmly, and he meant it, too.

"Hey, it's okay, Mathew. Margo's had her shots!" Adam playfully reassured him.

"Oh, _please _stop, you're killing me," Margo said sarcastically.

"All right, you guys, that's enough," Mal interjected as we all sat down at the tables. Kelly, Mal, and I sat at one table with the adults, and our siblings sat at another table. After I finished pouring us glasses of milk, I handed the pitcher to Uncle Mike.

You know what? I think red hair really runs in me family. After all, all four of us Hobart boys have that color hair, as well as what Mum calls a "smattering of freckles across our noses". Mum still has hers, but Kelly and I are just starting to lose some of ours. The only ones who never had them are Dad, Aunt Ann, and Uncle Mike. Also, both of Kelly's parents wear their hair pretty long. Aunt Ann's hair is long enough she can actually sit on it, but Uncle Mike's comes down to his shoulders, like Kelly's. If any of me brothers or I ever tried to grow our hair, Mum and Dad would cut it all off!

"So what did you find out?" I asked as I helped myself to a steak hoagie, and passed the plate to Mal.

"Well," Dad began, "Mr. Gordon had already turned himself in. He said the reason why he's been taking the money is to help pay the orphanage bills, mainly the utility bills."

"What are utility bills?" Johnny asked.

"That means the gas, water, electric, telephone, things like that," Uncle Mike explained.

"Oh. But then, why were they having problems paying their bills?"

"Yeah, why?" James wanted to know.

"Well," Kelly said, "Sara told me that Mrs. Gordon had lost her job, and they depend on both paychecks to pay the bills."

"I see," Johnny said. "After dinner, could we play checkers?"

"Sure!" Mathew said.

As we finished dinner, I wondered how much trouble he was in.

The next morning, after the brecky dishes had been cleared, Mum, Aunt Ann, Kelly, and I started carrying things from the garage to the front yard for the sale. I carried two card tables, and the others each had a box of stuff.

"It sure is a beautiful day," Mum commented as we set everything down in the driveway.

"Right you are," Aunt Ann agreed. "Perfect for a yard sale."

"Do you think Mrs. Gordon will show up?" I whispered to Kelly.

"I suppose," she said, shrugging. "I mean, if I were her, I guess it probably couldn't hurt. Say, could you hand me that box of ceramics?"

"Sure." I gave Kelly the box, and we very carefully started setting them out on the table. One in particular really stood out. It was a clear glass bell with an outline of the Opera House in dark red and gold. "Wow, this one's really pretty!" I commented, setting it down.

"Thanks," Kelly said. "I got this on me birthday when I was Mathew's age. Me parents took me to a Barry Manilow concert there. You know, Barry Manilow? The guy that wrote 'I Write The Songs'?"

"Yeah, I know who he is." Then, to be funny, I started singing, _"I write the songs that irritate Ben Hobar-r-t!"_

"Ben!" Kelly laughed. "He's not that bad, is he?"

"Well, I never actually sat down and listened to him, so I wouldn't know," I admitted, as I set the next table up. At that moment, our parents joined us in the yard.

"How's it going, kids?" Mum asked as she handed me a box of books.

"Fine," I answered. I set the box on the table and took the folding chairs from me aunt.

At that moment, the Pikes' van pulled up, and they got out. Mal ran up to me, and James and Mathew ran up to Nicky and Margo. The rest of them were singing that one God-awful song about greasy, grimy, gopher guts at the top of their lungs. If that song's not a detention punishment, I don't know what is!

"Well, it's time," Dad said, checking his watch.

Our yard sale had officially begun.


	20. Chapter 19: Mallory

A/N: This is where the story is _just starting_ to go into sappy-mode.

**CHAPTER 19: Mallory**

_**T**_he yard sale had been going strong all morning, and now it was lunch time. Ben and I went into the kitchen, where we found the leftover steak hoagies from the night before. After Ben popped them into the microwave, I opened the fridge and got out some milk, an apple, a little bunch of grapes, and a banana. "What are you making, Mal?" Ben asked.

"I thought we could have some fruit salad with our lunch," I answered.

"Sure, why not?" With that, we both started slicing the apple and banana and putting them and the grapes into two bowls. I just wish we had enough to make for everybody. And you want to know something? If Dawn were here, I can assure you that she'd be telling me that.

After our sandwiches were ready, I poured us each a glass of milk and we sat down at the table. "These are really good, Ben," I said, wiping some mustard off my mouth. "But I was just wondering: where did you get these? I thought they were only found in Philadelphia." I knew that much, because my family and I had gone there last summer, and that's what everybody called them. And I still remember Vanessa and the triplets trying to come up with their own hoagie rhymes all the way home. The entire time, I just wanted to jump out of that car and hitch-hike back to Stoneybrook. That's how annoyed I was.

"Well," Ben said, "when we left for here on the day after school let out, we spent the night in Philadelphia. We had some of these at a restaurant, and Mum asked the manager for the recipe."

"Oh, that's lovely," I said, trying to hide how grossed-out I was feeling. Why, you ask? Because I had been picturing those hoagies spoiling on the way over. And if there's one thing I could definitely do without, it's taking care of seven cases of food poisoning. As if the time all of us Pikes were either sick and/or injured wasn't bad enough! Let's see: Nicky broke three fingers, Vanessa broke her ankle, Margo and Claire had bronchitis, the triplets had pneumonia (I told them never to go outside with wet hair, but did they listen? _Noooo.)_, Mom hurt her knee playing tennis, Dad burned his hand fixing dinner, and I had the chicken pox--AGAIN! Where the hell was (insert _ER _doctor here) when we needed them?

"Don't worry, Mal," Ben smiled. "Dad put them in the cooler so they'd stay fresh. And the cargo hold on the plane is _freezing_, so we didn't have to worry about the ice melting. Otherwise, we would've had a _huge_ mess to clean up!"

"Well, that's a relief," I commented. I'd just finished my hoagie and was taking a drink of my milk, then I decided to change the subject. "You know what, Ben?"

"What?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but it seems like everyone's falling in love lately."

"Well, if you're referring to last night at dinner when Margo had her sights on Mathew, I know what you mean."

"It's not just that," I told him. "I've also noticed that Sara's little sister likes David Michael, and Abby likes Erin's brother. Remember when Charlie was doing his Chuck Woolery impression at the art show?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ben laughed. "That was a riot! I can still see that little guy's face when his brothers were teasing him."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That was funny, but do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"I think so," Ben answered. "I hope I didn't make Mathew too uncomfortable last night at dinner."

"Oh, he'll be all right," I reassured him, drinking the last of my milk. "If it makes him feel any better, the other BSC members gave me a horrible time when they found out about us."

"Yeah, so did me brothers," Ben recalled, shaking his head. "You know, every time James answered the phone and it turned out to be you, he'd start singing 'Strangers In The Night' at the top of his lungs. Of course, he didn't know all the words, so he'd make some up as he went. I remember one time when he heard Mum call me to the phone and came up with--get ready for this--_'Here comes his lover-girl to make us little kids lose our fetuccine Alfredo, and of all times to be out of Pepto-Bismo-o-o-l-l!'"_

While Ben was singing (and very badly, I'm afraid), I couldn't help remembering the first time Jason had showed me his impression of Simon Cowell, so I thought I'd try it out. "I'd much rather be tied to a chair and forced to listen to a butcher knife in a garbage disposal, thank you," I said, but my impression wasn't _quite_ as good as Jason's. Then, in my real voice, I added reassuringly, "Hey, it's okay, Ben. I've been told that Abby, Jessi, Claud, and I should have a contest to see who's the worst singer, and I'd bet anything I'd win first prize!"

Ben and I were laughing our heads off at this story when Claire came running into the kitchen. "Hey, Mallory-silly-billy-goo-goo!" she cried excitedly. "Come on outside, I want to show you something!"

We got up from the table and followed Claire outside. Well, technically, she was dragging us. For a six-year-old, she's pretty strong!

Anyway, when we got out to the porch, we saw what Claire was talking about. Toni was standing by the rosebush and singing for a group of customers, and at her feet was a jar with a little bit of money in it. _"Da-ancing bears, pai-inted wings, thi-ings I almost reme-em-m-ber, a-and a song so-omeone sings, once upon a Dece-em-m-ber," _she sang. It was beautiful. And that applause she got when she finished, _wow. _Sara was almost moved to tears.

"That was wonderful, Toni!" I exclaimed.

"Thanks, Mal," Toni said, looking down at the ground. Her face was about three shades redder than my hair. "Oh, in case you're wondering about the jar of money, Sara set it up for me. She told me that I'd always had a great voice, so why not perform for the customers?"

"Oh, that was nice of her," I commented. "Looks like you've made quite a bit of money."

At that moment, Sara came over to us. "You're doing a great job, Toni," she said, hugging her little sister. Then, turning to Ben and me, she said, "Toni loves singing. In fact, we put our heads together last night and came up with idea to put her musical talent to good use."

"That's wonderful," Ben smiled softly.

"Thanks, Ben," Toni said. "Well, I'd better get back to what I was doing."

"All right," I said. "Go get 'em, girl."

"Thanks," Toni said, then she started singing, _"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings; these are a few of me favorite things..."_

I was enjoying her singing so much that I didn't notice David Michael staring dreamily at her. "Hey, Mal," Kristy whispered. "Look at that."

I looked. David Michael was standing there with a look in his eyes that I knew all too well. It was the same look that Margo had around Mathew, and if I had a dollar for every time I saw Karen look at Jason like that, I could buy a whole new wardrobe, get Lasik surgery, and pay for all eight of our college tuitions. "She's great," he sighed. And she was, too. And when I say that, I mean she was a great singer and a great kid.

Toni was finishing the song when I happened to notice a little white VW pull up, and out came a short, slightly heavyset woman with black curly hair that had gray streaks in it. She had on a blue turtleneck, khakis, and tan loafers. Definitely a Mary Anne-like outfit.

Anyway, when Toni saw her coming, she waved and shouted happily, "Hi, Mrs. Gordon!"

"Hi, kids!" she answered, coming over to where we were. For someone whose husband admitted to stealing money, she seemed to be in a fairly good mood. "How's it all going?"

"Pretty good," Sara said, patting Toni's shoulder. "Oh, these are our friends from America, the Baby-sitters Club."

"G'day," Mrs. Gordon smiled warmly. After the rest of us BSC members introduced ourselves, that's when she got serious. "Look, I heard about the missing money from the art show, and I can't tell you enough how sorry I am. But as you probably know, things haven't been going very well since the company I worked for moved away, and we've had to scrimp and pinch just to make ends meet."

"I understand," I said. "When my dad lost his job, my siblings and I came up with our own ways to save money." To this day, I can still see Vanessa styling her friends's hair on the playground, the triplets with their own odd-job service, Nicky with his paper route, and Margo and Claire selling lemonade. But, and I really don't mean to brag, but I think that I outdid them all by giving my parents my baby-sitting money.

"Thanks for understanding," Mrs. Gordon said. "And don't worry, since he came forward, the police told him that he won't have to do any time. He just has to do 120 hours of community service."

"Wow," Kristy commented. "That was very generous of them."

"Thanks," Mrs. Gordon said softly. I'm not too sure, but I think I saw hint of a smile of her face, not to mention a tear in her eye. At that point, Watson had come over.

"Hi, everybody," he said. "This sale's going really well."

"Thanks, Watson," Stacey said. "Oh, this is Mrs. Gordon."

After she and Watson shook hands, he said to her, "I hope everything's going all right with you, and that you can accept our apologies."

"Yes, and thank you for asking," she responded.

"But, uh--" Watson continued, clearing his throat, "if you're looking for a job, either of you, I'd like for you to have this." And he reached into his pocket and took out a card. "This is the phone number for the Sydney branch of my insurance company. They're going to be open within 30 days, and I'm sure they could help you in any way possible."

You know what? As soon as Watson handed Mrs. Gordon that card, that's when the faucets started. "Thank you so much, Mr. Brewer," she choked. "I'll definitely use this."

"You're more than welcome," Watson said gently. "And best of luck to you and your family."

As I watched her leave, I was glad that she wasn't letting her emotions get in the way. And I also hoped that everything would be all right.

That evening back at the hotel, the six of us--Kristy, Claud, Stacey, Jessi, Abby, and I--were all in the room that Kristy, Claud, and Stacey were sharing. Abby had brought her Web-Cam with her, so we decided to see if we could get in touch with Dawn and Mary Anne. We wanted to tell them not only how the yard sale went, but also to ask how Dawn's grandpa was doing. I'll never forget hearing how upset Dawn was when she told us that he had Alzheimer's disease, and I could sympathize with her because that's what Mom's mother had. She passed away when I was nine, and none of us kids were allowed to go to her funeral. That still pisses me off to this day.

On a more upnote, Abby had just finished hooking up her Web-Cam to the computer that was in the room when Kristy said quickly, "Wait, wait, don't turn it on yet!" She pulled her carry-on out from under the bed and took out that green visor of hers. "Okay, I'm ready!" she said as she sat down in front of the computer. Abby shook her head and laughed as she turned on the Web-Cam.

"Hi, you guys!" we all chorused as Dawn and Mary Anne's faces flashed up on the screen. I was hoping for at least one of them, but seeing them both was even better.

"Okay, this meeting of the Baby-sitters Club is now in session," Kristy announced as she stood up nice and tall and adjusted her visor. I'll tell you right now, I think that girl takes this club a _little_ too seriously.

After we finished laughing, Abby asked, "But seriously, though, how are things back in Stoneybrook?"

"Oh, okay, I guess," Dawn admitted. We all could tell that she was still reeling a little from the news about her grandpa. "Mom and Jeff say hi, and they hope you're having a good time."

"Yeah, we just got finished with our yard sale at the Hobart mansion," Stacey said. "We made well over $1500, so we're gonna save that orphanage for sure!"

"Really? That's great!" Mary Anne exclaimed happily. "Sara and Toni must be thrilled!"

"Oh, definitely," Jessi agreed. "And you should've heard little Toni singing. She has such a wonderful voice."

"Aww," Mary Anne said lovingly. "That's so sweet!"

"And Pop-pop's feeling a little better," Dawn added. "He still thinks he's at work half the time, but it comes and goes. Seeing one of us always brings him back around. Well, for now, at least."

"Well, that's good," Claud said. "We're really sorry for what you must be going through now. I felt the same way before Mimi died."

"Thanks, Claud," Dawn said softly. It was very obvious she was trying not to cry.

"Oh, look what the We Love Kids Club made for everybody," Mary Anne interjected. She reached underneath the chair she was sitting on and took out this card made out of multi-colored construction paper. It was a picture of a koala, a kangaroo, and a dingo playing soccer, and above them in white sparkle-paint, it said, "HOPE YOU'RE HAVING FUN DOWN UNDER!"

"Oh, that's so cool!" I exclaimed. "I wish we had that drawing of the outback that we all signed!"

"Yeah, really!" Mary Anne laughed. "Say, whatever happened to that, anyway?"

"Oh, we helped Kelly hang it on the wall in the Baby-sitters, Inc. headquarters this morning," Kristy answered. "She says that whenever they have their meetings and ask themselves, 'What would the BSC do?', they could look at it and remember us."

"That's great," Dawn smiled. "I'd love to tell the girls back in Palo City about Baby-sitters, Inc. I'm sure they'd love to meet them, and I know Whitney would, too!"

"Oh, how is Whitney?" Kristy asked.

"She's fine," Dawn answered. "Last time I talked to her, she said she was training for the Special Olympics in about five or six years!" Whitney Cater is a girl Dawn knows in California who has Down's syndrome. She was also made an honorary member/special helper for the We Love Kids Club, and that really meant the world to her.

""Well, I think it's time we said goodnight," Mary Anne said. "We're going to breakfast with Granny and Pop-pop."

"Okay," Abby said. "Well, have fun, and we'll see you in a few days." After a seemingly endless barrage of goodbyes, Kristy turned off the computer and Web-Cam.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm beat," Claud told us. "Anybody want one last Jelly-Belly before we hit the hay?"

While the rest of us were reaching into the bag, Stacey asked, "Got any pretzels?"

"Always do," Claud answered, reaching into her carry-on. A quick snack later, and we were all getting up and heading for bed.

"Good night, John-Boy; good night, Jim-Bob; good night, Mary Ellen!" Abby called as she, Jessi, and I started down the hall.

"Good night, Erin!" Jessi called.

"I already said good night to you!" I cried.

"Good night, Grampa!" Kristy giggled.

"Good night, John-Boy's mole!" Stacey added, erupting into giggles.

"I tried that at my house when I was eight and heard Janine say 'Shut up!'," Claud remembered.

As loud as we were laughing, I still can't believe nobody on this floor told _us_ to shut up. Better yet, none of Kristy's or my brothers poked his head out into the hall and shouted, "Goodnight, asshole."

As I climbed into bed, forgive me for sounding corny, but I couldn't help thinking that all was right with the world.


	21. Chapter 20: James

**CHAPTER 20: James**

_**T**_he next day, we all ate lunch together. The couples were at one table: Abby and Justin, Ben and Mal, Margo and Mathew, and Toni and Dave. The rest of us were at another table. And, in case you're wondering, no, we weren't having those hoagies, which were really good. Mum had ordered three pizzas for everybody. Well, almost everybody. You see, Stacey's a diabetic, and Abby has more allergies than I can count, or even remember, for that matter. So, Stacey had a salad, and Abby and Justin were sharing a plate of spaghetti with soy sauce and olive oil on the side. (I don't know about you, but I wouldn't put that stuff on me spaghetti even I was an expectant mother.)

I guess Kristy caught me looking in their direction, because I noticed that she was giving me the "don't even think about it" look. Apparently, she still had what happened at the art show on her mind. "Look, we promise we won't start singing 'Bella Notte'," I told them.

"Thanks, James," Abby laughed. "And thank God we actually have forks to eat this with!"

You know what? Sometimes I think Abby can just blink her eyes and everyone will start laughing themselves silly. That's how funny she is. In fact, we were laughing so hard that the triplets blew milk out of their noses. And if their heads were positioned _just right_, they'd look like a fountain!

That's when Ben noticed the look on me face and asked, "What is it, James?"

"Oh, nothing," I lied. I didn't want to tell him about the triplets looking like a fountain, because if I did, I can assure you that they'd actually try it. As if the business with the pump didn't cause enough trouble!

Well, needless to say, Ben didn't believe a word I'd said. "You are up to something!" he sang in a warning tone, sounding exactly like Sgt. Schultz from _Hogan's Heroes. _

"I know nothing, Hogan!" I sang back. (By the way, Aunt Ann and Uncle Mike have the first season of _Hogan's Heroes _on DVD, and we'd watched a few episodes while we were here. We'd also watched _I Love the '70s _before we'd left Stoneybrook.)

We were in the middle of a good laugh when the phone rang. Kelly went to answer it. "Hello?" she said. Then she handed the phone to Aunt Ann. "It's for you."

"Hello?" Aunt Ann answered. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Gordon...What?...That's wonderful news...Don't forget the talent show's tonight...Okay, good. 'Bye."

We were all staring at her, wondering what was going on. "What is it, Mum?" Kelly asked.

"Sara and Toni have new parents," she answered.

"Woo-hoo!" Sara exclaimed. Toni jumped into her sister's arms, and Sara spun her around. After setting her down, Dave and the rest of us kids each had a turn to hug Toni. This was _great _news.

After we were done cheering, laughing, and making a _lot_ of noise, Sara asked, "So, what are their names?"

"Your new parents are Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell," Aunt Ann answered. "And you'll also have a ready-made brother. His name's Rupert, and he's eight months old."

"Oh, that's great!" Sara sighed.

"She loves babies," Toni explained to anyone who was listening.

"Also," Aunt Ann continued, "since Sara and Toni are going to live with the Ferrells, and the BSC and me brother-in-law and his family are going back to America in a few days, Mrs. Gordon says the kids at the orphanage want to put on a talent show for all of you. Kind of a farewell present."

"_Yes!_" Kristy shouted, throwing her fist into the air.

I was so happy for Sara and Toni. After all those years, they were finally getting a new family.

Later that evening was the talent show, and you better believe the auditorium was jam-packed. Both baby-sitting clubs took up one row, the Pikes took up the row in front of them, me family took up the row behind them, and the rest of the Thomas-Brewer clan took up the row behind us. And all of us happened to be sitting on the left side of the auditorium.

"I sure am glad that Sara and Toni have a home to go to now," I whispered to Ben.

"Me, too," Ben agreed. "Well, the show's starting, so we'd better be quiet."

"Right," I whispered, then turned me attention to the stage.

The first act was Sara and some of her friends singing "Hard-Knock Life" from _Annie. _I thought their dancing was awesome, and Sara had a pretty good voice herself. By the way, if you were to ask me which version of that song I like better, I probably couldn't tell you, because I've heard both the Jay-Z and Play versions, as well as the original one, and I like them all.

Some of the other acts included magic tricks, juggling, skits, a ventriloquist, stand-up comedy (yes, they kept it fairly clean), ballet dancing, and tumbling. The ballet act was Jessi's favorite, because the entire time, she was sitting there like she was being hypnotized. "I've got to tell Mme. Noelle about that girl," she whispered to Mal. (Mme. Noelle is Jessi's ballet teacher.)

A few minutes later, Toni came out on stage. She had on a bright red long-sleeved blouse, dark blue jeans, and black penny-loafers. She also had a red-and-blue ribbon in her hair. She looked great. I happened to glance at Dave, and I could tell he thought so, too.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to a very special friend of mine," Toni said. "He's the most wonderful boy in the world, and since the day we met, he's always done everything to make me happy. I'll always treasure the times we had together." Then, looking to her left, she said tenderly, "I love you, David." Then she nodded to the piano player, who started to play.

The song she sang was "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John. While she was singing, Dave was sitting there with the happiest smile on his face. I, for one, was pretty impressed that a kid who always thought girls were gross actually liked that.

_"I love you," _Toni sang sweetly. _"I honestly lo-ove you...I honestly--love you-u-u." _And just as I'd predicted, she got a standing ovation. I could only imagine how much Mary Anne would've been crying if she were here.

For the finale, they all gathered onstage and sang "I'll Be Seeing You". I'd heard it once before at Grammy and Grampa's house on their old-fashioned record player. You know, the kind with the crank on the side. I've always liked that song, even though it was _way _before me time.

Later that evening, we were back at the house watching the video that Kristy had made when they were on the plane to Sydney. It was pretty funny, especially the part where Kristy looked up Mary Anne's nose. We were laughing too hard to say a word. But if you think that was funny, when Abby started doing that bit from _The Blair Witch Project_, Sam grabbed a flashlight that was nearby, turned it on and put it right in front of his face, and said, _"I'm--so--scared--and--I--sound--like--a--Chihuahua--in--heat!"_ We practically killed ourselves laughing, and this time, the triplets really did look like a fountain!

"Oh, man, I knew that was gonna happen!" I howled.

"Please, there are children present!" Kristy exclaimed, sounding exactly like me first-grade teacher.

"Sam Thomas, I ought to wash your mouth out with Clorox!" Stacey added. "I cannot believe you said that!"

"What's 'in heat' mean?" Claire asked.

"Something you shouldn't know anything about until you get married," Mal answered.

"Oh," Claire said. "Okay."

All in all, the video they made was really good, and a great way to end our vacation.


	22. Epilogue: Kristy

**EPILOGUE**

_Dear Baby-sitters, Inc.,_

_[KRISTY Well, we're on our way back to the States right now. Thanks so much for having us. We really enjoyed meeting you guys, and seeing how you take care of business._

_[ABBY Taking care of business! Oh, YEAH, taking care of business!_

_[CLAUDIA Okay, Abby, do I have to call Jason and have him do his Simon Cowell impression?_

_[ABBY Well, ex-cuuuuse me!_

_[STACEY Okay, my turn. I really enjoyed going to the concert. The Opera House is just spectacular, both inside and out. I'm just glad Sam wasn't snoring too loudly when he fell asleep._

_[MAL Well, at least he wasn't making up some really gross lyrics to one of the songs, like Adam was. As if hearing Byron singing "That's Amore" on the way to our hotel wasn't bad enough!_

_[JESSI You are so right! On a more upnote, we made a LOT of money with all those fundraisers. I particularly had fun with the art show, and I still remember seeing that sign that said "50 CENTS FOR A SILLY-BILLY-GOO-GOO". But out of everything that happened on our trip, I'm gonna have to agree with Stacey on the concert being the best part. And I'd still love to perform there someday._

_[CLAUD Oh, you guys will never believe this: remember how Margo was around Mathew? Well, they're sitting about three rows behind us, and they're sound asleep and holding hands!_

_[ALL Awwwwwww..._

_[KRISTY That reminds me, David Michael is STILL talking about Toni. I'm just glad she gave him the address for their new home so they can keep in touch. I could be wrong, but we think he's got his very first girlfriend! And no, I'm not going to sing "Sunrise, Sunset", so don't ask._

_In closing, we want to thank you so much for your hospitality, and we really hope you can come visit us in America someday. Tell Sara and Toni we wish them the best of luck with their new family._

_Sincerely yours,_

_The Baby-sitters Club_

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_Dear Toni,_

_Hi! How are you doing? I'm doing all right. I hope you and Sara are enjoying your new family. Also, thanks for singing that song to me at the talent show. It was such a pretty song, even though I'd never heard it before, and you have an AWESOME voice. You should come to Stoneybrook sometime. Oh, by the way, if you happen to hear screeching at my house, her name's Karen, and she's my stepsister, but don't let that get to you. She's usually that loud. Well, best of luck to you and Sara and your new family, and I hope to see you again._

_Love,_

_David _

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_Dear Kelly,_

_[BEN Hi! Do you miss us yet? I know we do. Johnny says he loves your house, and your club, and basically everything else._

_[JAMES Yeah, it was fun, especially the rugby game. I'm just glad Justin's all right. That's the first time I'd ever seen someone have a seizure, and it scared the crap out of me. Thanks for comforting me, Kelly. Oh, by the way, Mathew's finally under Margo's spell! They're fast asleep and holding hands. Kinda makes you sick, huh?_

_[BEN Oh, come on, little brother, it's not that bad, is it? After all, that'll happen to you someday!_

_[JAMES Oh, God, PLEASE don't say things like that! And tell Johnny to stop looking over me shoulder!_

_[JOHNNY Hi, Kelly! I had fun! Pleez come to Stonybroke!_

_[BEN Well, to make a long story short--_

_[ALL TOO LATE!_

_[BEN --we had a GREAT time, and we really hope to see you at the beach over Christmas._

_Your cousins,_

_Ben, James & Johnny_

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_Dear Sara,_

_I'm writing to you from about 20,000+ feet. As of right now, we're flying over the Fiji Islands. I've been thinking about what you said that night at the concert, and my heart really went out to you and Toni. I, for one, never experienced the loss of a parent, just divorce. But I can imagine how awful it must've been for you two. I really hope you like your new family, and I'm also glad they have a little baby for you to help take care of. He's going to be so lucky to have two new sisters who care about him so much. And if you ever get the chance, come visit me, in either New York or Stoneybrook. I'd be glad to have you._

_ Your friend and fellow sitter,_

_Stacey_

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_Dear Justin,_

_Hi! I'm writing this on the plane back to the States. I figured I might as well, since the flight attendants are out of Sprite, the in-flight movie is _Glitter_, and every time I want to listen to music, all I ever hear is garbage by Aaron Carter or Kevin Federline. If either of those two posers win or even get nominated for a single Grammy, I'm never buying another CD again._

_But seriously, though, I already miss you like crazy. I'm so glad I got a chance to meet you, and I'll always be grateful for the time we spent together, especially that night at the art show. Just between the two of us, you are a GREAT kisser. You really know how to make a girl feel special._

_I really hope you and your family come to Stoneybrook someday. Oh, and if Erin wants to, she can invite Sara and Toni. Did you see how she was around David Michael? They looked so adorable! And so do Mathew and Margo. They're both asleep and holding hands! Is that too cute or what?_

_Well, I should probably go now. Never forget how much I love you, and I'll never forget you._

_ Shalom,_

_ Abby_

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_Dear Dawn & Mary Anne,_

_How's your grandfather doing? I'm really sorry for what you're going through. I remember when Pappy Taylor had Alzheimer's. I was only seven at the time, and I didn't know what it meant. I just want you to know that I really feel for you guys._

_Oh, on a more upnote, the yard sale we had after Mary Anne left did very well. And Watson gave Mrs. Gordon a job with his company. I'm just glad the orphanage will remain open. Also, I don't mean to brag (Oh, what the hell, I'll brag!), but if we ever go back to Sydney, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a painting of all of us (both Baby-sitters, Inc. and BSC) in the lobby! Well, see you soon. Friday, 5:30 sharp. Be there or be square. (Oh, my God, I think I'm turning into Sam!)_

_Your true friend,_

_Kristy_

_** THE END**_


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